Goodridge raises penalty ‘mismatch’ in new ownership law

Opposition senator Karina Goodridge has called for stricter penalties for the unauthorised disclosure of confidential information under the Beneficial Ownership Transparency and Register Act, warning that the current sanctions are too weak to act as an effective deterrent.

She argued that the sanctions fall well short of those already established in the Data Protection Act.

In Wednesday’s debate in the legislature, she questioned why sensitive personal information held under the new legislation would attract a maximum fine of $40 000 or one year’s imprisonment for unauthorised disclosure, compared with penalties of up to $500 000 and three years’ imprisonment under the Data Protection Act.

“I want to look to the penalties for leaking sensitive information because when your information is out there, it is out there,” she said, warning that information falling into the wrong hands “can cause mischief”.

Senator Goodridge noted that section 9 of the new law addresses data breaches but argued that the proposed penalties do not reflect the seriousness of the offence.

“I recognize now we are passing this legislation and it has a lesser fine by far because it only attracts a $40 000 fine or one year imprisonment,” she said.

Questioning the discrepancy, the opposition senator asked: “Why should identical confidential information receive a much lower level of protection simply because it is stored under a different act?”

She recommended that Parliament adopt the same penalties contained in the Data Protection Act for offences involving the unauthorised release of beneficial ownership information.

“I would really recommend that the penalties contained in the Data Protection Act be maintained in this legislation… Because all who are dealing with confidential information being leaked, it’s a serious matter. So, why have a lesser fine?”  

She also argued that the proposed prison sentence would do little to discourage offenders.

“One year imprisonment, that is only one Christmas missed. That is not really a deterrent,” she remarked. “Some people may look at it and say, well, one Christmas… I don’t miss that.”

Comparing the financial penalties, Senator Goodridge contended that a $40 000 fine would not carry the same weight as the existing sanctions under the Data Protection Act.

She declared the $40 000 fine is “not hard to save up, but in comparison, $500 000 as a fine…many people will not be able to get $500 000 so they will keep out of trouble and do the right thing”.

(SB)