B.C.’s acting privacy commissioner is calling on the provincial government to quickly appoint a chief privacy officer after the personal information of 1,400 welfare recipients was leaked.

Paul Fraser says in a report that the children’s and housing ministries failed to make adequate security arrangements to protect private information from unauthorized access.

He says the breach was discovered last April but nothing was done about it until October.

Fraser says this and other privacy breaches indicate the government needs to create the position of an executive-level chief privacy officer who would ensure that privacy breaches are dealt with quickly and effectively.

It’s the second report to be released in a month that’s critical of the government for handling the welfare data breach, after an earlier review found provincial authorities had poor judgment in their handling of the case.

Two public servants were fired last year after the leak was discovered, and while the incident is the subject of a criminal investigation, no charges have been laid.

via The Canadian Press.

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