SaskTel today released its 2013 Transparency Report detailing the amount and types of requests received for customer information and the legal requirements that govern its disclosure.  Like other telecommunications companies, SaskTel is required by law to respond to federal, provincial and municipal government and law enforcement agencies when they have a legally valid request.

“SaskTel is committed to transparency in our information disclosure practices and we would like to assure our customers that we take the matter of customer privacy very seriously,” said Ron Styles, SaskTel President and CEO. “We only release non-published information when the appropriate legal process is followed and this report details our complete compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements governing the release of customer data.”

According to the report, in 2013 SaskTel received 11,857 information requests from various authorized government agencies and emergency services providers. The majority of requests received are to confirm a customer’s name and address, information commonly found in the telephone books. SaskTel is also required by law to assist agencies for purposes such as enforcing criminal law, protecting public revenue and safeguarding national security. Assistance is also provided to emergency services agencies for reasons such as responding to life threatening situations or dealing with matters relating to emergency calls. Customer information is only disclosed in accordance with the law and all requests for information are assessed to ensure they comply with the law.

The 2013 Transparency Report is SaskTel’s first annual report and SaskTel will release a Transparency Report annually in the second quarter of each year. For more details regarding the types of requests, the full Transparency Report is posted on www.sasktel.com, Company information.

About SaskTel
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation (SaskTel) is the leading full service communications provider in Saskatchewan, with $1.2 billion in annual revenue and over 1.4 million customer connections including over 607,000 wireless accesses, 492,000 wireline network accesses, 250,000 internet accesses and 100,000 maxTV subscribers. SaskTel offers a wide range of communications products and services including competitive voice, data, internet, entertainment, security monitoring, messaging, cellular, wireless data and directory services. In addition, SaskTel International offers software solutions and project consulting in countries around the world. SaskTel and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have a workforce of approximately 4,000 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). Visit SaskTel at www.sasktel.com.

For more information, please contact:

Michelle Englot, SaskTel Director of External Communications
Phone: (306)-777-4476
E-mail: michelle.englot@sasktel.com