Alberta's privacy commissioner is calling on the provincial government to amend privacy legislation after 2.9 million Albertans had their personal information published online by a group of Alberta separatists. The incident has exposed what the commissioner describes as a concerning gap in the province's privacy laws regarding political parties.
Injunction and Investigation
An Edmonton judge granted Elections Alberta's injunction on Thursday, ordering the group, the Centurion Project, to remove the list of electors from their public website. The list contained personal information of Albertans registered and eligible to vote in the provincial election. The injunction also required the group to identify those who were provided or permitted access to the list and to provide contact information for individuals and entities to the chief electoral officer within four days.
Privacy commissioner Diane McLeod stated that her office has been calling for the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) to be amended to include political parties for decades. She is now determining whether her office has jurisdiction and, if so, will investigate whether any violations occurred in acquiring the list and making it publicly available.
Gap in Privacy Laws
“This is evidence of a concerning gap in Alberta’s privacy laws as it relates to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by political parties,” McLeod said in a Friday press release. “This incident demonstrates that it is high time for political parties to be made subject to PIPA.”
Premier Danielle Smith responded on X, stating she is aware of the situation and is awaiting the results of both the RCMP and Elections Alberta investigations before commenting further or determining whether future legislative changes are needed.
Broader Implications
The incident has raised questions from the Alberta NDP about the implications of publicizing personal information. Feodor Snagovsky, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Alberta, noted that making the list available to an unauthorized third party has serious implications for free speech and increases the risk of doxxing.
“If someone were to speak out against the independence movement, it would only take a couple of bad actors to leak personal information,” Snagovsky said. “All of a sudden, you’re in a place where you’re killing speech, where people are afraid to speak their mind—it has an anti-democratic effect.”
The Centurion Project has since removed information on how to access the list from their website. Snagovsky agreed with McLeod, stating that political parties have a lot of latitude with personal data and are given the ability to write rules that benefit them. “I think if the average person knew how few restrictions really stand in the way of political parties using our data, I think they’d be really surprised,” he said.
Impact on Nearly Three Million Albertans
The Alberta RCMP and Elections Alberta are currently investigating how the Centurion Project accessed the Republican Party of Alberta’s copy of the list of electors. The breach has affected nearly three million Albertans, highlighting the urgent need for stronger privacy protections in the province.
