Quarantine Case Management System privacy compliance evaluation (April 2022)

Description of program

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we introduced enhanced border measures under the Quarantine Act to reduce the spread of the virus. They included collecting information from travellers entering Canada about their travel before, upon and after arrival at a port of entry into Canada. Travellers must provide the following information to a Canada Border Services Agency border services officer:

• contact information
• quarantine plan
• symptom self-assessment

We developed an integrated digital solution that enables the collection and management of this information. That solution includes the ArriveCAN app and the Quarantine Case Management System (QCSM). The QCMS enables information sharing, decision making and analytics for compliance and enforcement related to the quarantine program.

Why a privacy compliance evaluation was completed

As per the Interim Directive on Privacy Impact Assessment, deputy heads may use a privacy compliance evaluation (PCE) for urgent COVID-19-related initiatives in place of a full privacy impact assessment (PIA). The Privacy Management Division (PMD) has since been exempted from the current directive on PIA, and is providing a PCE in its place. If the above initiative continues beyond the timeframe of the exemption, PMD will complete a PIA which will include this analysis. As a substantial modification to an existing program and urgent COVID-19-related initiative, the Public Health Agency of Canada’s development and implementation of the QCMS meets the criteria for conducting a PCE.

More information

The PCE examined the collection, use, disclosure and retention of personal information using the QCMS.