Metrolinx has been quietly sharing Presto card users’ private travel records with the police, the Star has learned.

The transit agency has received 26 requests from police forces so far this year and granted 12 of them, according to Metrolinx, which is the provincial transit agency that operates the Presto fare card system used across the GTHA and in Ottawa. It is not known how many requests Metrolinx granted in previous years because the agency only began tracking them in 2016.

The agency says it does not always require law enforcement agencies to produce a warrant or court order to obtain detailed data about transit riders’ trips and doesn’t always notify customers that police have asked for the information.

Article Continued Below

Experts interviewed by the Star said the practice raises serious concerns about Metrolinx’s policies around the protection of transit users’ personal information.

A spokesperson for Metrolinx said the organization abides by applicable privacy laws. Anne Marie Aikins said that the only data the agency shares is Presto usage records, which show where and when a customer tapped their fare card as part of a transit trip. Metrolinx doesn’t share other information collected through Presto, such as a person’s email address, phone number or financial details, she said.

“Only the minimum amount of information requested is provided and all information is reviewed before being provided to police,” Aikins said.

“We follow all of the rules of FIPPA (the Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act).”

Article Continued Below

In an emailed statement, Brian Beamish, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, said that under FIPPA rules, Metrolinx “has the discretion to disclose personal information to police in certain circumstances” including in an emergency and to aid an active criminal investigation.

Click to expand

“However, this is discretionary. Based on the circumstances, Metrolinx may wish to require the police to get a court order prior to any disclosure.”

Privacy experts said that although Metrolinx’s sharing of data about where and when people ride transit isn’t against the law, the agency isn’t being open enough about how it uses the information it collects from riders.

“It’s certainly a problem,” said Chris Parsons, a research associate at the Munk School of Global affairs who specializes in privacy and security.

While Metrolinx and Presto have both posted privacy policies, Parsons said that because they don’t explicitly state under which circumstances officials will give information to the police, “the public really has no idea what policies, processes or practices Metrolinx has in place or under what conditions it would provide that data.”

Parsons argued that in order to be transparent and accountable to the public, Metrolinx should explicitly and publicly state when it will share their data with police. It should also regularly publish statistics about the number of requests it receives and how they are handled.

Brenda McPhail, director of the privacy, technology and surveillance project at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, agreed that Metrolinx needs to be more upfront about how it shares customers’ private data.

Article Continued Below

“Collecting that information gives the company a responsibility to tell people exactly what they’re doing,” she said, noting that data on transit users’ trips can tell police a lot about someone’s personal life.

McPhail also raised concerns that the agency has given out personal information without a court order.

Although there are some exceptions for safety reasons, “we would say that there should be a warrant for collecting that information,” she said.

“So in other words, no fishing.”

Seventeen of the 26 requests Metrolinx has received so far in 2017 were related to alleged criminal offences, and six were missing persons cases.

The remaining three stemmed from police finding wallets that contained Presto cards but no other identifying information, the agency said.

Of the 12 requests the agency granted, six were related to criminal proceedings. Usage data was shared for all six missing persons requests.

In 14 other cases the request was either turned down by Metrolinx or withdrawn by the police. Aikins said the agency might reject a request because it asked for too much information or was not specific enough.

Ten transit agencies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, as well as OC Transpo in Ottawa, use the Presto system. They include GO Transit, Mississauga’s MiWay and the Hamilton Street Railway. More than 2.54 million fare cards have been activated.

Metrolinx didn’t provide a breakdown of which police forces have requested user data, but said it could be any force in the GTHA or Ottawa. Federal agencies might also apply for the data indirectly through local law enforcement.

Metrolinx doesn’t notify customers that a law enforcement agency has asked for their private data before granting a request because, Aikins said, “it is important we do not interfere in police investigations.” Sometimes customers are notified after the fact, particularly in missing persons cases.

Presto customers are not required to share their personal information with Metrolinx to use the card. However, in order to register their card, they must provide personal information that could include their name, address, phone number, email and payment information.

Once the card is registered, every time a customer taps on a streetcar or bus or at a subway station, the time and location is recorded and linked to their personal information.

Registration isn’t obligatory, but without it customers can’t get receipts, obtain usage reports for tax credit purposes, set up automatic card reloads or recover funds from a lost card.

Metrolinx encourages customers to register their cards in order to make use of these features.

Currently a little more than 12 per cent of trips on the TTC are paid for using Presto. Use of the fare cards among the transit agency’s 1.8 million daily riders is expected to grow drastically next year when the TTC phases out older fare media such as tokens and tickets.

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross declined to comment, saying that “Presto’s privacy policy is not within the TTC’s mandate.”

“However, the privacy of its customers is something the TTC takes very seriously and has every confidence that Presto does, as well.”