The Government of Yukon protects the privacy of citizens by following the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. We often refer to this Act by its abbreviation, ATIPP.
This means we must:
- protect the information we collect, use and disclose; and
- tell you what happens to your information once you share it with us.
You can find out more about our obligations are in our:
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 are collecting it; and
- who you can contact if you have questions about the information being collected.
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act limits public bodies to collecting only what information is necessary to deliver a program or service. The Government of Yukon is a public body.
Learn more about how the Government of Yukon collects information.
How the government uses personal information
When we collect your personal information, we use it to deliver, evaluate or expand a government program or service. We'll only use it to meet the need identified when we collected it.
The government has a variety of safeguards in place to make sure your information is only accessed by our staff when they need it to do their jobs.
Disclosing and sharing personal information
A public body cannot disclose or share your personal information with another public body or 3rd party, except in a few specific instances.
Some examples of authorized disclosure under the ATIPP Act include information disclosed:
- for the purpose for which it was collected, or a use that is 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.
- for the purpose of complying with a court subpoena, warrant or order;
- during the course of a criminal investigation; and
- for the purpose of complying with an act, treaty, arrangement or agreement made under a federal or Yukon law.
Learn more about personal information disclosure.
Privacy breaches
If there's a privacy breach, we have specific measures 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.
We train our employees so they know what to do if there is a privacy breach.
Privacy impact assessments
A privacy impact assessment (PIA) is a standard tool used to identify and mitigate potential privacy risks of new or redesigned government IT systems, program, services or legislation.
Review the privacy impact assessment policy.
An essential element of a PIA is a Personal Information Map (PIM) [Link to template]. A PIM provides an inventory of the personal information holdings of government departments. For more information, please review the Personal Information Map Policy.
Privacy resources for government employees
All government employees are required to complete mandatory privacy training. This training teaches employees about their responsibilities under the ATIPP Act, including how to manage personal information to reduce privacy risks.
To learn more about how the Government of Yukon discloses information, review our Employee Privacy Training Policy.
For questions about how the government protects citizens privacy email atipp@yukon.ca, or phone 867-393-7048 or toll free in Yukon 1-800-661-0408, extension 7048.