Complaint: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) refused in two instances to disclose the serial numbers on firearms. The RCMP stated that the numbers were personal information that had to be protected under section 19, because they made it possible to identify the owners of the firearms.

Investigation: During the investigations, the RCMP also argued that the serial numbers should be protected because they could be cross-referenced with law enforcement databases to identify the firearms’ owners.

Outcome: The Commissioner recommended that the RCMP disclose the serial numbers. The RCMP did not accept this recommendation in either case, so the Commissioner applied to the Federal Court for review.

Information Commissioner’s position:

• To meet the definition of personal information in section 3 of the Privacy Act, institutions must show that the information in question is about an identifiable person. However, serial number are information about firearms, not the individuals who own them.
• A member of the public could not possibly identify the owner of a firearm from just the serial number because the law enforcement databases that would make this possible are not public.