Description
The Security Incident Management Program (SIMP) is designed to manage security incidents affecting departmental assets, employees, authorized users, stakeholders, and clients. All employees and managers are responsible for reporting security incidents to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)'s Departmental Security and Intelligence Services (DSIS).
The primary goal of SIMP is to handle these incidents in line with the Treasury Board Secretariat's Policy on Government Security and related directives. Security incidents can be reported by employees or discovered through various monitoring activities by DSIS or partner organizations.
When a security incident is reported, it is recorded in a dedicated case management system and may undergo a fact-finding process. If necessary, an administrative investigation is conducted, using various collection techniques, including IT-based evidence collection techniques.
DSIS also investigates wrongdoing under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, ensuring confidentiality for those individuals submitting the report.
Upon completion of an investigation, a report is prepared summarizing the findings and is provided to senior management who are responsible for making decisions regarding employee training, awareness, and disciplinary action.
Why a privacy impact assessment was completed
A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was completed for several reasons related to updates and changes in AAFC's security incident management processes.
Firstly, a PIA specific to security incident reporting and the investigation process had never been conducted.
Secondly, a new security incident case management system was recently deployed, necessitating an evaluation of potential privacy implications.
Thirdly, over the past decade, DSIS has implemented various software tools, including information technology (IT) forensic software, to aid in identifying security incidents and in supporting investigation activities. These tools were introduced without the benefit of a PIA to formally assess their features and functionality for privacy risks.
Lastly, there is a likelihood that DSIS will procure additional IT forensic software applications to enhance its capabilities in performing searches of systems, drives, and devices. This potential acquisition also warranted a PIA to ensure privacy risks were thoroughly evaluated and addressed.
These substantial changes and updates made it essential to conduct a comprehensive PIA to identify and mitigate any privacy risks associated with the evolving security incident management program.
Additional information
The PIA identified a range of potential privacy risks associated with the security incident management processes, including:
- issues around data collection
- monitoring
- technical safeguards and
- access to information
Various and timely measures were identified to mitigate these risks, such as:
- establishing necessary agreements with relevant government departments
- seeking legal opinions to ensure compliance
- providing appropriate training
- developing clear policies and procedures
- improved safeguarding of systems and tools and
- ensuring comprehensive collaboration between other AAFC branches
These actions aim to address and manage privacy concerns effectively, ensuring that all updates and changes to the security incident management program maintain high standards of privacy protection.
Related personal information banks
Standard PIB PSU 939 Security Incidents and Privacy Breaches
Contact us
For more information about this privacy impact assessment, please contact the Access to Information and Privacy Office
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Kirsten Gartenburg
Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
Tower 7, 10th Floor
1341 Baseline Road, Room 216
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C5
aafc.atip-aiprp.aac@agr.gc.ca