Canadian DPA launches investigation into World Anti-Doping Agency

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has announced it will look into the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for allegedly violating privacy rules.

The Canadian data protection authority (DPA) received a complaint about WADA’s handling of biological samples that were collected from athletes.

According to the accusation, WADA has disclosed personal information to international sporting federations and that the information is being used to assess athletes’ sex-based eligibility, without them knowing or consenting to this.

“The investigation will examine whether the collection, use, and disclosure practices of the organization, which is responsible for monitoring the use of drugs in sport, comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law,” the agency states in a press release.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada says it can’t provide more details at this time. It’s unclear when the investigation will be rounded up.

The World Anti-Doping Agency or WADA is an international organization that was founded in November 1999 to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the world of sports.

WADA is responsible for formulating the World Anti-Doping Code, which is adopted by more than 650 sports organizations worldwide, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee.

WADA gained notoriety in 2016 with the publication of the McLaren Report, detailing that over thousand Russian athletes in over 30 sports had been involved in a state-sponsored doping program between 2011 and 2015. As a result, many Russian athletes were banned from competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics, and the 2018 Winter Olympics. The report was named after professor Richard McLaren, an independent investigator who worked on behalf of WADA.

In August 2016, WADA announced its systems were breached and used to send phishing emails. Hackers also leaked drug testing files of several American athletes that were exempted by WADA, including gymnast Simone Biles and tennis players Venus Williams and Serena Williams. Allegedly, Russian hacking group Fancy Bear was responsible for the incident.