Canadian Insurance Company Snooped On Jurors Insurance Claims During Trial

from the that-seems-bad dept

Mon, May 18th 2009 4:51am — Mike Masnick

We've seen it over and over again -- when people have access to large databases of information, it's almost impossible for them to resist the temptation to abuse the info. The latest example comes via Michael Scott, who points us to the news that the Insurance Corporation of B.C. (ICBC) was caught checking its own database to examine the claim histories of potential jurors in a trial in which the company was involved. Not surprisingly, this is a massive breach of Canadian privacy laws and also raises questions about the jury itself. The judge in the case is now trying to find out if ICBC has done this in other cases as well. ICBC seems to be bending over backwards to say this won't happen again and that it's put in place safeguards, but it's not clear why it happened in the first place.

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Filed Under: canada, insurance, jury, snooping
Companies: icbc

12 Comments

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CleverName, 18 May 2009 @ 5:19am

Business As Usual
1) Why did the defense not ask that question of the jury during the selection process ?
2) Why is the privacy of the employee who performed the access more important than that of the victims ?
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Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2009 @ 6:02am

...but it's not clear why it happened in the first place. You are kidding, right? It is clear as the size of the potential jury award in the case. The motive is money. Someone high up in the leadership new the data was there and ordered someone to mine it.
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NullOp, 18 May 2009 @ 6:46am

No Surprise...
Yep, when given the opportunity companies/governments/people will invariably snoop in the data. Its not a maybe, a possibly or perhaps. Its a sure thing. That is why people should be very concerned about entities holding large amounts of personal data. Especially governments and insurance companies. These groups in particular feel like they are exempt from any laws concerning privacy. The only real "cure" for it is prison for the offenders and perhaps the CEO. This problem is only growing worse as the data available grows. Don't doubt your data will be snooped/analyzed at some point...
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BB, 18 May 2009 @ 6:55am

Blackberries in the courtroom
I remember my first introduction to Blackberries - in court at the jury selection part of the trial. As the name of the prospective juror was announced there was a flurry of blackberry activity, and before the prospect was sworn in, a complete background check was completed and presented to the attorney's own blackberries...
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- woodbomb (profile), 13 Jun 2009 @ 2:35pm
  
  Re: Blackberries in the courtroom
  In which jurisdiction did this occur? (And ~ when?)
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Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2009 @ 7:03am

Bah! None of you are getting the real reason behind all of this. The company just wanted to make sure everyone was getting the lowest rate possible and anyone on the jury not in their database they would sent a flyer to their house and advertise some of their low low rates :D
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- Juan Monico, 18 May 2009 @ 9:56am
  
  Re: ICBC
  This is even more outrageous when you realize that ICBC is government owned, is the agency that issues vehicle registrations and license plates for the province and is the only legal source for government mandated automobile insurance.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2009 @ 7:34am

Electronic Medical Records anyone?
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bob, 18 May 2009 @ 8:49am

I know how to stop this
Make ICBC pay 1 million dollars to each and every one of the jury pool, for that trial.
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Baloney Joe, 18 May 2009 @ 9:10am

but it's not clear why it happened in the first place.,

Really, it's not clear to you? It's pretty clear to me.
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Kevin M, 18 May 2009 @ 9:36am

Michael Scott
I thought Michael Scott ran a paper company.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2009 @ 11:10am

Figures... Stupid Canadians.
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