I go to get my mail this afternoon, feelin' sick as a dog anyways, and I see that I have a letter from the OIPC. As the logo above indicates, it's the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta. I had just thought about them late last night come to think of it, and oddly enough I would hear from them the next day. As I picked up the letter, it seemed awfully thin, so I started to vibrate...if it's that thin, it can't be good news, right?But allow me to preface...
Late last year, just before winter, I filed an official privacy complaint against Party X for what I perceived and understood as a violation of my privacy, and a contravention of the PIPA Act. Up here in Alberta, we have several levels of privacy protection...one is the PIPEDA which affects federally regulated outfits (like banks and such), as well as FOIP, AMVIR, HIA and of course PIPA. Depending on where you are/were employed, will determine what branch of the privacy acts would pertain to you and the company for which you work(ed) for. In my case, Party X falls under the PIPA Act.
As sad as it seems, I'm already familiar with the process, as this is now the second time I've launched a complaint against Party X. The only difference between them that I can see is, the first complaint revolved around a "he said/she said" scenario of which of course Party X is gonna deny any wrong doing, circle the wagons and protect their own...they didn't wanna risk an official file being laid open for all to see; this second complaint though, they were caught red-handed with their hands firmly in the cookie jar with no chance at plausible deniability. Though the first complaint left a sour taste in my mouth, I had to walk away with the knowledge that they still had an official complaint on file, though not disclosed. They had been marked, and by me. The fact they were on record now had to be good enough for me.
Just FYI - they were guilty as Hell the first time too, but because we weren't afforded a chance to bring "witnesses" to meetings, it really came down to a "he said/she said" scene...they know they fucked me over, and probably laughed about it afterwards. We all know what really happened that day...they'll have to live with their guilt for covering it up.
Anyways, this time out they were nailed red-handed as I mentioned, and there was no way in Hell I was gonna let them get away with it a second time. Having the advantage of quantifiable proof at my fingertips was all the motivation I needed to go after them a second time. They may have dodged a bullet once, but they weren't gonna get away with it twice. Not as long as there's a breath left in my body. So I filed the official grievance. Oddly enough, I was assigned to the same Case Worker from my first complaint, and our first chat since then was prickly at best. Still, I felt more confident than last time seeing as how I had evidence available that couldn't be denied like it was last time.
So we talked and I was reminded that they "anticipate" a resolution on or before February 20, 2009. We discussed why I filed, and what I expected to see come of it. We left it at that, and I was informed that I'd be kept in the loop as it moved forward. So we're at the end of January now, and they hit my thoughts last night, as I was pondering the status of my complaint. The first one was over fairly quickly, and this one has been played out a while longer...so I took that as a good thing. But that didn't stop my curiosity.
Then I get this letter, and it's thin. So I start to vibrate thinkin', "There's NO WAY they could side with Party X on this...NO WAY! I have PROOF!" I open the letter realizing that I could possibly appeal if needed, so let's see what they had to say. Well, much to my chagrin, it's just a notice from their offices informing me that, under their provisions and as was also stated in my initial acceptance of the complaint, they are exercizing the option to extend the "anticipated" resolve date to April 15, 2009.
Well what...the...fuck.
Okay, so I calmed down a bit. I re-read the letter as short as it was, and I actually smiled a bit after reading it a second time. Again, to me in my mind, if they have to extend it it means that something's happening behind the scenes, right? As I see it, it means one of two things...1) they are allowing Party X more time to drag their feet trying feebly to defend their actions, or 2) they are allowing more time to Party X to get their shit together as part of the prescribed punishment/recourse that will be revealed to me at a later time. I imagine it could be a host of just about anything else as well, but those two items stand out the most to me, given the circumstances.
Even though I was really looking forward to doing the "countdown" to February 20, 2009...I guess I'll have to wait a little longer to start counting the days. The tiny optimist in me says that this is a good thing, that it's been bumped back because it wasn't so easy to dismiss as it was the first time. With any luck, I'll be correct in that speculation and come to find it out in due time...else I'll appeal if they try to fuck me again. When you walk in with evidence in hand, a harsh lecture to them will just simply not be acceptable to me a second time. They dodged a bullet once, and likely laughed about it...
...but this time the last laugh will be mine...
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