Consular Services Privacy Notice Statement

Consular officials are available to assist you if you experience problems while abroad. To do so, they need to collect personal information about you. They may also need to share that information with other parties in order to address your case. Consular officials are committed to respecting your privacy rights.

Consular officials will open a file about you in the Consular Services Case Management database. If you are currently registered in the Registration of Canadians Abroad database, your file will include the personal information you submitted. Your personal information is safeguarded against inappropriate disclosure under the provisions of the federal Privacy Act. However, in accordance with the Act, your personal information may be disclosed without your consent under the following circumstances:

• to address your case, if it is determined that you will benefit from the disclosure;
• where there are permissible disclosures to third parties (for example, to protect national security or for use in investigations and legal proceedings); or
• where the disclosure is clearly in the public interest.

The government may disclose information to correct the public record should you or your representative make public statements in relation to your consular case that are inconsistent with the facts. In some instances, consular officials may disclose your personal information even if you are unaware that you are the subject of consular assistance (for example, if you are missing, arrested or detained abroad and have not yet met or communicated with a consular official).

In all cases, consular officials will make every effort to protect your privacy by limiting the amount and specificity of information disclosed without your consent to what is strictly required under the circumstances.

You may also wish to authorize disclosure of personal information regarding your case to your next of kin or a representative. You will have an opportunity to authorize Global Affairs Canada to do so. Under Section 12 (1) of the Privacy Act, you also have the right to request access to any personal information in your case file. That information is, however, subject to certain limitations under the Act.

The full text of the consular policy regarding use and disclosure of personal information is available on this website.