The mayor of Gibsons isn’t comfortable that ICBC is giving out names and addresses for a fee and allowing private parking-lot operators to trace and bill car owners for unpaid parking tickets.

Mayor Barry Janyk said he has raised his concern with both ICBC and the provincial office of the information and privacy commissioner but was told that proper safeguards are in place for such vehicle-licence information.

“The fact that my information or your information is being given directly to a third party—a private company—is a very worrisome thing, from my perspective,” Janyk told the Straight.

According to 2005 figures provided to the Straight by ICBC spokesperson Doug Henderson, the Crown corporation received 138,000 requests for information from parking lot companies in that year. These translated to revenues of more than $800,000, Henderson said, noting that the fees are turned over to the provincial treasury.

“The reason why this is done is parking lots are included in the definition of a highway,” Henderson said. “In order to properly maintain the lots, parking-lot owners need to be able to locate and collect from those who use their parking lots without paying the appropriate amounts.”

Maria Dupuis, a coordinator at the privacy commissioner’s office, indicated to the Straight that the agency has no plans to revisit a 1995 report issued by then-commissioner David Flaherty regarding access to vehicle database information. The report Dupuis referred to outlines measures to prevent unauthorized use of private information, particularly audits on information users.

“I know that ICBC does audits on these guys [the lot owners], but you know what? ICBC’s reputation has really taken a turn for the worse in the last six months,” Janyk said. “I need to have a little bit more warranty, a little bit more guarantee that the information that people are”¦giving to a private corporation is not going to be used against me.”