Court info line to stop asking for personal details

A provincewide court information phone line will stop requiring callers to divulge personal details to access basic information, according to Alberta Justice.

Previously, if a member of the public called the Resolution and Court Administration Services Contact Centre with a query, about anything from courthouse hours to contact information for a service provider, they would be asked to provide their first and last name, date of birth and their city of residence before the staff member answering the phone would supply the requested information.

Responding to questions about the practice, Alberta Justice spokesman Scott Sehested said in an email Wednesday that changes were underway.

“As part of efforts to tailor service delivery, the contact centre is adjusting its procedures so that callers with basic inquiries will not be required to provide any personal information before receiving help from advisers,” Sehested continued.

In some cases, callers were also asked to reveal their gender, country of origin, preferred language and Indigenous ancestry.

Sehested said this was to direct them to “appropriate information or resources,” and that answering these questions is “entirely voluntary.”

He said callers are never required to give that additional information to receive service.

He said sometimes personal information or a case file number is required to answer questions about specific court appearances.

Individuals calling on behalf of an organization — such as a law firm or media outlet — are asked for their name, the organization’s name and their city of residence.

Callers’ information has been collected and stored electronically since the province established the contact centre in 2016. The information is included in call logs and used internally.

Sehested said the stored information is helpful with repeat callers, caller complaints or to narrow down search results in instances such as when someone calls for information about traffic court appearances.

Sehested said the information is being collected under the authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and that it is not being shared with any outside organizations.

Sehested added that anyone concerned about how personal information collected by the contact centre is being used can contact the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act and the Personal Information Protection Act help desk at 780-4275848 or sa.accessandprivacy@gov.ab.ca.