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Privacy
Guidelines for
British Columbia Public Libraries
10. Records Retention &
Disposal
a) In general
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Personal information should only be kept as long as is
reasonably necessary (although
FOIPPA does not provide limits on how long public bodies may keep
personal information). However, where personal information is used to make
a decision that affects an individual
to whom it belongs, the library must keep the information for a minimum of
one year, so that the individual can access the information (Act, s. 31).
When personal information is destroyed, a method secure
should be used that is appropriate and effective for the media (see Box
10.1 (below) for some tips).
Box 10.1
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TIPS on
destroying personal information :
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Paper à
Should be shredded (ideally using a cross-shredder), burned or pulped.
Never throw paper with personal information into a recycle bin unless
it is in a secure location and stays secure until it is shredded.
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Computer data à Data is not destroyed simply by "deleting" the file. Deleting merely
removes the file name from the directory and allows the data to be
overwritten eventually. Erasable media (such as disks, hard drives,
CDs, DVDs) should be purposefully overwritten, "wiped", or
"sanitized", using software designed specifically for the purpose. The
safest method of destroying data is to physically destroy the media
(just cutting CDs in half isn’t enough). Non-erasable media should be
physically destroyed.
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b) Back-ups
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to also remember to consider whether there is a back-up of the information
as well. If so, the personal information there must also be destroyed (see
Box 10.1 above). |
c) Borrowing history
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Libraries should not keep a history
of what materials patrons have borrowed, except where they
have the individual’s consent. Reference to the item being borrowed should
be removed from the patron record, as soon as possible, when the item is
returned.
See "Circulation: History of what a patron borrowed"
for more information.
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d) Book/resource history
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