BURSTB.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey has launched an inquiry into the provincial government’s decision to remove its staff directory from the web, and whether cybersecurity concerns used to justify the move are worth the loss of transparency.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner had a team begin examining the decision to disable the public directory soon after it went dark on Aug. 18 and staff details abruptly disappeared from the provincial website.
B.C. has published contact information for government staff in some form since at least 1930.
The Citizens’ Services Ministry says the move was made to stop phishing attempts, promising a replacement soon that will only include contact details for assistant deputy ministers and up. But this leaves the public in the dark about who works for the government.
The privacy commissioner questions the motivations, while acknowledging that cybersecurity threats must be taken seriously in a rapidly changing digital environment.
“However, completely removing public access to the directory without a functional replacement is a very serious transparency issue, which contributes to an erosion in the public’s trust [in] our democratic institutions,” Harvey said in a Tuesday (Aug. 25) statement.
Harvey’s team intends to evaluate the validity of the security risks involved. His office will then prepare a public report with recommendations about how to maximize transparency amid these threats.