CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST TEEN OVER PRIVACY BREACH.
No intent, no grounds for charges: police
HALIFAX • Police have dropped the case against a young Halifax man alleged to have breached a Nova Scotia freedom-of-information website, shifting the issue squarely back to whether the province had basic measures in place to protect its citizens’ private information.
In a news release, Halifax police say that after a thorough investigation, “the police have determined there to be no grounds to lay charges in the matter.”
The young man’s lawyer, David Fraser, had said repeatedly that the youth — who was arrested after a dramatic raid on his family’s home — had no malicious intent when he downloaded 7,000 documents from the public site.
The 19-year-old was collecting information about a teachers’ labour dispute, and hadn’t realized the site didn’t protect other information from a simple download program, Fraser said.
“Even though anybody who has looked at it has said these charges would never succeed, there’s always going to be some anxiety associated with it. So, to have this resolution, it’s just a relief,” he said Monday.
Personal information ranging from social insurance numbers to documents meant only for the eyes of the applicants were accessed, according to the province.
Fraser said the case has “raised awareness about how the government secures information.”
NDP house leader Dave Wilson said the onus is now on the government to take responsibility for what happened.
Wilson pointed to previous warnings from the province’s auditor general about potential security problems with the website.
“Obviously enough wasn’t done to fix those problems and I think the government, the premier, the minister need to take full responsibility for this,” said Wilson.
“Definitely I think the government at a minimum should owe this young gentleman an apology,” said Wilson.
“They need to take ownership of this.”
Police arrested the man on April 11 and said they gave him notice to appear under a rarely used section of the Criminal Code that prohibits unauthorized use of a computer with fraudulent intent.
However, in Monday’s news release, Supt. Jim Perrin, said, “as the investigation evolved, we have determined that the 19-year-old who was arrested on April 11 did not have intent to commit a criminal offence by accessing the information.”
The family and the youth have said the search with 15 officers left their home in disarray and the 19-year-old deeply distressed over the prospect of potential charges, said Fraser.