There was a very interesting discussion during yesterday's "Canadian 311-What's New Up North?" idea exchange at the CS Week 311 Synergy Group spring meeting.  The push for transparency continues to be a concern for many local governments.  The data collected by 311/CRM systems can be tremendously helpful in responding to that call for greater transparency and letting citizens know how their tax dollars are being spent.

At the same, the protection of private individual data and information in Canada is required by federal law.  Capturing personal data for pre-populating future service requests isn’t permitted.  In other words, Canadian 311 systems aren’t allowed to pull up Mrs. Smith’s personal information based on her last phone call.  This law means that the same data and information has to be captured and recaptured in subsequent calls.

However, the City of Toronto has developed a secure registration system, known as My Toronto that allows citizens to register their personal data and then opt in for services that they want, for example, a reminder notice of when their quarterly property tax is due. As local governments venture into the use of data analytics and business intellegence, programs like My Toronto may hold the answer to how to provide greater transparency while protecting personal privacy.