Sunday, November 25, 2018

if this is true - and it's a good source - then the new law should apply to the border cops.
  1. The RCMP advised that CBP has access to CPIC pursuant to a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the RCMP and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), providing for the electronic exchange of information contained in CPIC and the equivalent system in the US, the National Crime Identification Centre/Interstate Identification Index (NCIC/III).Footnote 8 The MOC originally took effect on May 6, 1999, and was renewed on July 25, 2008.Footnote 9 Unless otherwise noted, all references herein are to the 2008 version, which was in effect at the time of the incident in question.
  2. The FBI is the part of the Department of Justice of the United States of America that enforces the laws of the US and facilitates the exchange of information with law enforcement agencies within the US. Pursuant to the MOC, the FBI authorized the DHS, and by extension, CBP, to access CPIC. The RCMP advised that the FBI was provided “read only” access to CPIC, meaning that the CPIC databases were accessible by the FBI and its partner agencies, but they were not able to contribute information directly to CPIC.
  3. The CPI Centre also set limitations on the information in CPIC’s databases that could be viewed by the FBI and its partner agencies under the MOC. They were not able to access information relating to young offenders, persons wanted on province-wide warrants, non-conviction criminal records (i.e., not-guilty verdicts, acquittals, withdrawals, stays of proceeding, or peace bonds), or suspended (pardoned) criminal records. We confirmed, however, that the FBI and its partner agencies, including CBP, did have access to Caution flags and SIP entries.
  4. According to the MOC, information obtained from either CPIC or NCIC/III could only be used for “criminal justice purposes.” The MOC provided the following definition: “criminal justice purposes is defined to mean that the use of CPIC and NCIC/III data is intended specifically by law enforcement and criminal justice agencies in the performance of law enforcement and criminal justice matters to include national security issues as mandated by the legislation of the respective countries.” The MOC did not define “law enforcement” or “criminal justice.”
  5. The MOC specified that Canadian privacy laws and the CPIC Policy Manual required that users of CPIC data establish the accuracy and validity of a CPIC record prior to it being used. As such, all information collected from CPIC by US law enforcement agencies should have been confirmed by contacting the contributing CPIC agency to determine its accuracy and relevancy before the information could be used for any purpose.
https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/investigations/investigations-into-federal-institutions/2016-17/pa_20170419_rcmp/