Is Your Personal Hunting and Fishing Data At Risk?

Having just applied for my 2012 antlerless deer tag there is one issue of particular concern to me right now. It is our right to privacy when dealing with government organizations. Yes, I know that governments are entitled to use our personal information for their own purposes, but we have never given them a mandate to share personal information with a foreign government. There is a real potential for that to happen now that the Ontario Government has contracted the management of our fish and game licensing system to an American firm.

The database of all Ontario fish and game licensing records now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. There was little fanfare or flag waving on the part of the provincial government regarding the issue, as is the norm when governments of all levels want to show that they have created efficiencies that will save money. So I have to wonder if this is simply an exercise in “creative accounting” rather than a matter of true cost reduction or improved efficiency. I’m sure that government representatives and bureaucrats have an iron-clad contract stating that all records are the property of the Ontario Government and as such are proprietary, confidential, and in compliance with our Privacy Protection Act, but if you think that U.S. Homeland Security won’t trump the Ontario Government when information is in the hands of a U.S. company, think again.

Contracting out by governments may be the right thing to do in some instances, but not when individual privacy is at risk; so two thumbs down to the McGuinty government on this one.