Find out how the government protects your privacy

The Government of Yukon protects the privacy of Yukoners by following the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) Act. This means we must:

• collect only the minimum amount of personal information necessary for a given purpose;
• only collect, use and disclose information for the purposes allowed by the Act;
• protect the information we collect, use and disclose; and
• tell you why we collect your information and what happens to it when you share it with us.

How the government collects personal information

When we collect your personal information, we have to inform you of:

• our legal authority to collect the information;
• the reason we're collecting it; and
• who you can contact if you have questions about the information being collected.

The ATIPP Act ensures that public bodies collect the minimum amount of information necessary for program or service:

• delivery; and
• evaluation.

How the government uses personal information

When we collect your personal information, we use it to carry out and evaluate government:

• programs;
• activities; and
• services.

We'll only use it for the purpose we collected it, unless you consent to a different use. We can also use this information, if necessary, to reduce or prevent a serious threat to the health or safety of the public or an individual.

We have safeguards in place to make sure that only the appropriate staff have access to your information when they need it to do their jobs.

Disclosing personal information

A public body can only disclose or share your personal information with another public body or 3rd party in specific instances.

Some examples of authorized disclosure under the ATIPP Act include disclosure:

• for the same purpose for which it was collected, or a use that's consistent with that purpose.
  • For example, this could be information you disclose when you apply for government funding or a grant. The department administering the financial benefit can disclose your personal information to our Department of Finance for the purpose of providing you with a cheque.
• to obey a court subpoena, warrant or order;
• during the course of a criminal investigation;
• to comply with an act, treaty, arrangement or agreement made under a federal or Yukon law; and
• to protect the health and safety of an individual or the public, like in the event of a civil emergency.

Privacy breaches

If there's a privacy breach, we have procedures in place to mitigate the impact of the breach on people whose personal information has been compromised.

Find out what to do if you suspect a breach to your privacy.

Each government department has its own designated privacy officer who will take action when there is a suspected breach.

We train our employees so they know what to do if there's a suspected privacy breach.

• Designated Privacy Officer Toolkit
• Designated Privacy Officer Breach Reporting form
• Privacy Breach Reporting Form for Employees
• Privacy Breach Procedures

Privacy impact assessments

A privacy impact assessment (PIA) is a standard tool that helps identify and mitigate potential privacy risks of new or redesigned government

• IT systems;
• programs; or
• services.

Completing PIAs is a requirement of the ATIPP Act.

At the Government of Yukon we use the Privacy Impact Assessment template and guidance document to do these privacy risk assessments.

Privacy resources for government employees

Employee training is 1 of the methods the Yukon government uses to keep personal information secure.

All government employees must complete mandatory privacy training. This training teaches employees about their responsibilities under the ATIPP Act, including how to handle personal information to reduce privacy risks.