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Summary
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On July 11, 2002, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario (the IPC) received a telephone call from the Executive Assistant and Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, regarding the theft of a laptop computer from an office of the Ministry of the Attorney General (the Ministry). The IPC received a follow-up letter dated July 24, 2002, from the Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Legal Services Division, setting out the circumstances surrounding the theft of the computer from the Ministry's Crown Law Office - Civil. The letter indicated that the password-protected computer went missing some time over the weekend of July 1st during ongoing office construction. The letter also indicated that the police had been contacted and an investigation was underway.
On the basis of this letter, the IPC initiated a privacy complaint under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act).
Particulars concerning the incident
The Ministry agreed to conduct an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the computer theft, and to provide the IPC with a written report. The Ministry's investigation report set out the following background in relation to this incident:
The Ministry's Crown Law Office - Civil (CLOC) had planned office renovations for the weekend of July 1, 2002. Sometime over the weekend, the laptop portion of a computer docking station belonging to a lawyer at CLOC went missing, along with a disk which was left in the computer's "A" drive. The Ministry explained that on Friday, June 28, 2002, in preparation for the construction, the computer in question was moved from the individual's office and placed in a room with some other furniture. In addition to the regular building security, two security guards were employed by the Ministry to be in attendance on that floor during the time of the construction. On July 2, 2002, when the furniture was moved back into the individual's office, it was discovered that the laptop was missing. The Ministry then notified its main computer centre and the police. To date, the laptop has not been recovered.
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