PRIVACY: Residents of Mississauga should be aware of the existing and proposed electronic monitoring policies in place with regard to their communications with City staff and elected officials.  MIRANET is reviewing the proposed Policy as last presented at Council on April 28, 2010.

MIRANET DEPUTATION: MIRANET made a Deputation (click to view) before Mississauga City Council on April 14, 2010 regarding this issue.  Excerpt: "We share this belief that citizen engagement will create a better city, and we’ve been talking about that a fair bit this morning. And so new measures that may curtail or inhibit, or even intimidate, such participation from the public are counterproductive to the City’s best interest."

Click to view the Minutes of the February 3, 2010 GC meeting (Item 4: 'Access to and Acceptable Use of Information Technology Policy and Supporting Guidelines', p3-4).

NOTE: Acceptance of the recommendations contained in the Corporate Report: January 14, 2010 and separate Appendices 3-7 was deferred.  Click both links to view the entire 46-page report including Guidelines and FAQ -- may take a moment to load.  Excerpt: "The Policy now makes it very clear that all communications, including communications sent by or to employees [or elected officials] ... can be accessed by the City ... and are City records and, as such, are subject to retention ... the Policy clarifies that IT users should have no expectation of privacy when using any of the City's IT resources."

Mississauga News article (April 19, 2010): Contact City Hall at own risk, citizen warns.  Excerpt: "The City of Mississauga’s updated policy on information technology (IT), says This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it [a MIRANET representative], 'states repeatedly that all IT users should have no expectation of privacy.'  This applies to communication in any form, whether by e-mail, text message or phone, he noted.  '(People) should be aware their use of IT resources, both business and personal, may not be confidential and may in fact be subject to municipal freedom of information (FOI) provisions,' said Douglas in his deputation to last Wednesday's Council meeting. ... Ward 5 councillor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it agreed with Douglas that the measures may do more harm than good. ... However, City manager This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it explained ... 'I keep trying to provide the assurance and clarity that this is not the wild, wild west.  We’re not making this a free-for-all for everybody to go in and look at whatever they want,' she said."

Click to view a comparison of municipal information technology monitoring policies in selected Ontario and Canadian municipalities.  The first page includes current and proposed monitoring policies for the City of Mississauga.  This document was included with the Corporate Report.

Click to view the website of the Office of the Chief Information and Privacy Officer of Ontario, which provides a listing of all relevant acts and regulations including the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which governs the draft monitoring Policy.

Globe and Mail opinion column, by Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (March 12, 2010): Privacy is still a social norm.  Excerpt: "What I emphatically submit is that there is little evidence to change our view that privacy remains a social norm.  Privacy relates to freedom of choice and control in the sphere of one's personal information – choices regarding what information you wish to share and, perhaps more important, what you do not want shared with others.  What has changed, however, is the means by which personal information is now readily exchanged, at the speed of light.  In the past, personal information was kept largely private because of limited personal exchange systems (i.e., live contact, telephone, snail mail).  The technological means by which such information may now be shared has exploded – that is what has changed meteorically, not the collapse of privacy as a social norm.  No doubt, technology may have an effect on a person's ultimate choice of what personal information to share, but it should still be the individual who makes that choice – a decision conditional not only on technology but on other factors and needs in one's life."

Toronto Star article (Feb. 3, 2010): Internet monitoring raises eyebrows in Mississauga.  Excerpt: "Mississauga’s policy on email and Internet use by people at city hall hasn’t quite caught up to the age of smart phones and BlackBerrys.  But a new protocol for monitoring staff and politicians' use of such devices ... is being deferred until councillors are better briefed on how the system will be implemented and just what $150,000 worth of new software will do. ... City manager This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it said much of the policy has already been in place for many years.  'We are simply modernizing it to acknowledge that technology and the types of devices being used have changed.'  No date has been set for the staff briefing to council."

Mississauga News article (Feb. 3, 2010): Councillor objects to 'spyware'.  Excerpt: "Several councillors want no part of new guidelines proposed by staff to monitor communications by City of Mississauga employees and elected officials [including with constituents].  The revised policy would also allow the City to spy on inappropriate use of the internet by the municipality’s 5,000 employees. ... Jack Lawrence, the City’s IT director, explained the City has the capability to capture the phone number only, not the contents of the call.  However, all e-mail correspondence will continue to be monitored and stored, he said."

Mississauga News editorial (Feb. 4, 2010): E-mail privacy unlikely.  Excerpt: "The City of Mississauga’s proposed use of electronic surveillance equipment — spyware, as it’s known in some circles — has caused a ruckus at City Hall. ... Some councillors are understandably upset by the idea their e-mail correspondence could be monitored, and saved, by technicians acting as virtual stenographers.  The idea that city councillors’ e-mails are and will be monitored summons up images of Big Brother in all his glory, the gory — and usually boring — details of their correspondence with constituents logged and parsed as if they were grade school students.  Still, the reality is that e-mail correspondence is monitored and, in countless cases, restricted by many organizations in an effort to curb flagrant abuse of company-provided technology, including BlackBerries and e-mail accounts. ... The line between privacy and public interest, however, becomes quite murky when the equipment used is paid for by taxpayers' dollars and at least one party to any City-originating e-mail exchange is also being paid by taxpayers."

National Post article (Feb. 4, 2010): McCallion, Parrish square off over emails: Online Security.  Excerpt: "The clash was spurred by a debate over a proposed information technology policy brought before council for approval. City manager This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it said it would "modernize" the existing policy to account for the proliferation of handheld devices.  The new language clarifies the city can monitor and review communications on city-owned devices, including private BlackBerry text messages."