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A directive from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) requires that all federal institutions carry out what it calls a privacy impact assessment (PIA) prior to any activity that involves the collection or handling of personal information, with the goal of identifying privacy risks and ways of mitigating or eliminating them.

According to the directive, which took effect in 2002 and was revised in 2010, federal departments must then provide a copy of their PIA to the TBS and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Radio-Canada asked each of the federal institutions using the spyware if they had first conducted privacy impact assessments. According to their written responses, none did. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said it intends to do so.