The District of Saanich has removed Spector 360 security software from all municipal computers, pending the results of an investigation by the province’s privacy commissioner.
Andy Laidlaw, chief administrative officer, said the district disabled the software effective Jan. 20.
Spector 360 is capable of covertly monitoring an employee’s online activity by capturing keystrokes and screen images.
“This issue has become a distraction for mayor and council from its primary role in providing governance and service to their taxpayers,” Laidlaw said in a statement released Monday.
“Saanich is facing many strategic issues and needs to move forward in its business decisions. I am hopeful this will bring some closure to this issue for Saanich while recognizing this issue of security and privacy will continue to resonate and be subject of public debate.”
Privacy commissioner Elizabeth Denham launched an investigation last month after newly elected Mayor Richard Atwell alleged that spyware had been installed on his work computer without his consent.
Denham, acting on her own, said her investigation will examine whether the district’s use of employee-monitoring software complies with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
She expects to finish her review by the end of March and make her findings public. Laidlaw said Saanich may revisit the issue after Denham reports.
The district installs “security measures” as part of its “normal practices to ensure citizens feel secure when conducting business with the District of Saanich,” Laidlaw said.
He said the district will continue to protect its information and resources using “security systems that follow industry best practices.”
A Times Colonist survey found no other large municipal government or regional district in B.C. routinely uses Spector 360. The one exception was the Capital Regional District, which said it used the software to investigate an employee for a personnel issue.
Atwell complained about the software to Saanich police in December, but the department reported to council in January that there was no criminal wrongdoing by municipal staff.
Atwell then asked the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner to investigate whether Saanich police were in a conflict of interest, since the police chief’s wife is an executive assistant in the mayor’s office and the software was on her computer.
On Monday, Atwell called Saanich’s removal of the software an “appropriate first step,”but declined further comment while the issue is before the OPCC and privacy commissioner.
The district has said that an independent audit in May recommended monitoring software, and that Spector 360 was purchased in November and installed on an “initial group of key computers, including the mayor’s office computer.” Saanich has refused to release the audit, citing privacy law.
The district said Atwell was given a consent form alerting him to the presence of the software on his computer, but he never signed it.
With a file from Louise Dickson
