Finance
September 21, 2017
The following statement was issued today by the Honourable Tom Osborne, Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board:
Minister Osborne Provides Information on Reported Provident10 Privacy Breaches
Our government takes the protection of privacy for its public service pension plan members very seriously. Privacy breaches such as those reported by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) recently are a serious matter, and it is important that these issues are addressed by Provident10.
As a result of an agreement with the unions representing members of the Public Service Pension Plan in 2014, a joint trusteeship agreement was put in place where both government and plan members would share responsibility for the plan equally. Provident10 was subsequently created as a non-government entity through amendments to the Public Service Pension Plan Act.
In 2014 there was no duty to consult with the OIPC under ATIPPA on legislation. Provident10 is not a public body as defined by ATIPPA, and therefore does not fall under the Act.
Provident10 has a privacy policy in place that is meant to support the protection of plan members’ personal information.
I will be personally reaching out to the chair of Provident10 to ensure that this policy is being followed and has been adequately communicated with members. I will also request that the processes for safeguarding personal information be reviewed in light of the privacy breaches reported by the OIPC.
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Media contact
Marc Budgell
Finance
709-729-2477, 689-0430
MarcBudgell@gov.nl.ca
2017 09 22 3:40 p.m.