TORONTO - The federal privacy commissioner has dismissed an Ottawa woman's complaint that the Canadian Human Rights Commission violated her rights, saying it found no evidence the agency hijacked her Internet connection during a probe of white supremacist websites.
In a decision released Thursday, the commissioner said there were no grounds to uphold Nelly Hechme's privacy complaint.
"We looked at it very carefully (and) we found no evidence that they ever accessed the individual's Internet connection during the course of their investigation," Valerie Lawton, a spokeswoman for privacy commissioner said from Ottawa.
"We also found no evidence that the (rights) commission had any knowledge of the individual before the allegations came up at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing."
Hechme, who lived near the rights commission's office, complained to the privacy commissioner last year after a Bell Canada security official publicly identified her Internet connection as one used to post hate messages on a website.
The startling revelation came during long-running hate hearings before the tribunal involving Toronto resident Mark Lemire.
During the hearings, Dean Steacy, an investigator for the rights commission, admitted using the pseudonym "Jadewarr" to post messages on white supremacist websites.
Following a subpoena, Bell Canada revealed that a "Jadewarr" post in a chat room had originated from an Internet address belonging to Hechme, who expressed dismay at the notion her wireless connection had been used.
The decision by the privacy commissioner still leaves unanswered how Hechme's Internet account became snared in the rights-commission's investigation.
"As for how this could have happened, this wasn't our focus," Lawton said.
However, the privacy agency did say that technology experts had concluded the association of Hechme's Internet address to the rights commission likely was "simply a mismatch" on the part of a third party.
"What is certain is that there is no evidence of the CHRC having ever collected or improperly used, disclosed or retained any personal information about the complainant," the privacy commissioner said.
The privacy commissioner did however warn Canadians to protect themselves from Internet hackers looking to defraud a victim or from improper access by government agencies.
Hechme was not immediately available to comment on the privacy ruling, but in a recent interview said she was still bothered by what had happened.
Both Lemire and Hechme requested criminal investigations of the matter, but the RCMP did not pursue the probe apparently on the grounds that it was beyond their jurisdiction.
