Quote:Public Services and Procurement Canada said it needs to make the change because the RCMP is ending its old practice of checking criminal history using a person's name, which sometimes led to problems because names could be misspelled, too common or swapped for nicknames.

The RCMP now has the technology to handle criminal background checks using the quicker, more accurate, fingerprint method.

...

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada doesn't have a problem with fingerprinting, in general.

"I can tell you that our office believes that the use of fingerprints for a criminal record check is appropriate to ensure authentication," wrote spokesperson Valerie Lawton in a statement.

"We understand that fingerprints submitted for security screening will be destroyed after the check is complete."