Registry gave ID details to harasser

Better monitoring of an Edmontonbased registry company has been ordered after a man’s address was disclosed to a person who later arrived at his home to confront him.

Adjudicator Teresa Cunningham of the provincial privacy commissioner’s office ordered Service Alberta this week to more to effectively monitor how employees of Sentinel Registry Ltd. access personal information held in the MOVES database, which houses drivers’ licence information.

A man complained in February 2010 that an employee of the registry, at 128th Avenue and 82nd Street, provided his address and photograph to another person who wanted to harass him.

“In this case, the evidence of the complainant is that the consequence of the disclosure was harassment and the possibility that it will now be necessary to move to another address to avoid further harassment by the individual who obtained the address,” Cunningham wrote.

Cunningham said the employee, who was later fired, violated privacy laws by disclosing the information and did it without authorization.

While she noted Service Alberta wasn’t directly responsible for disclosing the information, she found the department isn’t doing enough to effectively monitor how the motor vehicles database is accessed.

“If a public body does not create a mechanism to ensure compliance with its policies or procedures, such as regularly monitoring and auditing how employees access personal information, then it is essentially relying on an honour system to protect personal information,” she wrote.

Service Alberta has 50 days to comply with the order.