B.C.’s Information and Privacy Commissioner has released a report backing up some of Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell’s bombshell allegations about spyware on district computers.

Commissioner Elizabeth Denham vowed to investigate Atwell’s claims after they made headlines in January, and on Monday confirmed she’s identified major problems with Saanich’s use of software called Spector 360.

The employee monitoring program was installed following an external audit of the district’s computer system last year, but Denham said it has features that clearly violate staff and elected officials’ privacy rights.

“I think there’s been a focus on IT security at the expense of privacy,” Denham said, suggesting the district acted too hastily in implementing the software.

“One day of research on the Internet and they purchased Spector 360 without using some kind of analysis.”

The program collects every keystroke used on the 13 computers where it was installed and takes automatic screenshots every 30 seconds, according to the report.

That's potentially given it access to employees’ personal information, such as online banking transactions, private passwords and images, confidential correspondence, and personal websites visited.

Denham recommended that Saanich disable a number of features from the program, destroy all data that’s been collected, and appoint a chief privacy commissioner to address what she describes as a troubling lack of awareness about privacy laws in the district.

Atwell held a press conference after the report was released and pledged to ensure all recommendations are acted on.

The mayor said it’s too soon to say whether anyone will be fired over the decision to install Spector 360, but assured he has confidence in his staff.

“I work with them every day but in the topic of this employee monitoring software, the district fell flat on its face,” Atwell said.

“I’m just glad to be vindicated by this report. It’s been an ordeal.”

When the mayor raised concerns about Spector 360 in January, he insisted it had been installed on his computer without his consent. Denham said her investigation also found some staff members were unaware their workstations were being monitored.

“Essentially I was right and it seems like everyone else was wrong,” Atwell said.

The mayor said he wouldn’t comment on other allegations he levelled, including that he was being unduly targeted by police, because they’re under investigation by the B.C. Police Complaint Commissioner.

To read the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s full report on Saanich’s use of Spector 360, click here.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Bhinder Sajan