How Private is Private?

Life is challenging enough for the person who is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction. The last thing an addict needs is to be limited or stigmatized later by the decision to seek treatment today. 

In Canada we have the good fortune to be protected by fairly robust privacy laws, which stand up well to international scrutiny.  In January 2001, a European study of international privacy protections found that PIPEDA (Canada’s privacy legislation) provides an adequate level of protection for personal data[1]. This same report states “There is no explicit right to privacy in the United States Constitution” and that “in recent years, privacy protections in the USA have been significantly weakened”.

The above statement is reinforced by a recent advisory to Ontario judges…

“Please be advised when travelling to the USA with your laptop and/or blackberry, that the US Border Service are enforcing a policy that allows them to examine all IT equipment including laptops, blackberry's and cell phones. This examination may be more that a physical check but can include downloading software/files or confiscation of the device. Please ensure you remove all confidential information prior to travelling.”[2]  

Basically, since the advent of the Patriot Act and similar security measures south of the border,  IT equipment carried into the US (computers, PDAs, cell phones, etc.), information stored on servers resident in the US,  as well as email and other customer communications with US organizations are all subject to scrutiny in the name of National Security. 

What does this have to do with your employees who access treatment for addiction?

This potential for breach of privacy could impact your employees (and your organization) in a number of ways. With America’s extreme focus on National Security, it is not a far stretch to believe that information about treatment for addiction and/or mental health may be red flagged with respect to border crossing and the growing no-fly list. This could restrict your employee’s movement on both a personal and professional level.

Even when treatment takes place in Canada, your employee could still be at risk for a privacy breach in the U.S. Many online databases belonging to Canadian organizations are hosted on external servers. Few server farms are located within Canada. In fact, most are located in the United States. This means that data belonging to Canadian companies and organizations could be subject to access and review by U.S. authorities, because of the physical location of the server.

Reducing Long Term Stigma

Aside from this potential for breach of privacy, it’s also important to think about how addiction treatment will be recorded and how this might impact your employee in the future.  For example, treatment through a hospital program may be recorded as both hospitalization and psychiatric treatment. Similarly, any program for addiction treatment funded by Ministries of Health is typically recorded as psychiatric or mental health treatment. 

Although medical information is well protected by Canadian privacy legislation, life circumstances may require personal disclosure and an explanation of any hospitalization and/or psychiatric treatment. For example, application forms for everything from life insurance to professional licensing and entire job categories commonly include the following questions in one form or another:

1.     Have you ever been hospitalized? If so, for what condition?

2.     Have you ever been, or are you being treated by a psychiatrist or psychologist? If so, for what condition?

3.     Have you ever been, or are you being treated for any mental health condition?

So what can an employer do to ensure both the best treatment and the best long term privacy outcomes for an addicted employee?

There is no question that appropriate treatment gives alcoholics and addicts their best chance at lasting recovery. It also offers the employer the best opportunity for reclaiming a productive employee. To protect the long term privacy of your employees who receive treatment and to ensure that choosing recovery remains the best decision they ever made, keep the following in mind:

§       It often makes sense to access treatment outside your immediate area (particularly in small, close-knit communities) to protect privacy.

§       Accessing treatment in the United States, however, exposes your employee to “legalized” privacy breaches and may result in future border crossing issues.

§       Remember that treatment in programs funded by Ministries of Health will likely be recorded as psychiatric or mental health treatment, which may require future disclosure on various types of applications.

§       Remember that treatment in a private hospital or sanatorium is typically categorized as hospitalization, which may require future disclosure on various types of applications.

The Renascent Advantage

With three treatment facilities located in Southern Ontario, Renascent provides confidential, non-stigmatizing treatment to individuals from across Canada.

As a not-for-profit addiction treatment provider, Renascent receives partial government funding. This funding comes through the Ministry of Long Term care, so treatment at Renascent is not recorded as either hospitalization or psychiatric treatment.

Renascent stores and backs up all client data, both PC based and web-based, on Canadian resident servers. In addition, no client data is transported across any international border in any form.