B.C. Prvacy Commissioner David Loukidelis says ICBC might have over-stepped its bounds in checking into the background of jurors. (CBC)

B.C. Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis says he's investigating a report of juror checking by Crown officials in Kelowna in connection with a recent criminal trial.

The juror-checking allegation comes as Loukidelis released a report Thursday that the Crown-owned Insurance Corp. of B.C. broke the company's own rules when it ran checks on the driving records of jurors at trials involving accident insurance claims.

The Kelowna investigation comes after Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian issued an order earlier this month telling Crown attorneys there to stop collecting any personal information on would-be jurors beyond the allowed check for a criminal conviction.

Cavoukian said Crown attorneys in Ontario asked police to look into such things as whether or not prospective jurors had called authorities to report a crime, been a victim of a crime or even complained about a neighbour.

Loukidelis said he could not provide details about the Kelowna allegation, other than it involved a criminal case where concerns about juror checking arose.

Information passed to ICBC lawyers

Potential jurors in British Columbia must certify they have not been convicted of a criminal offence within the last five years.

Loukidelis said his office found five other juror-checking instances at the insurance corporation beyond last spring's original allegation that the company confirmed.

Privacy officials reviewed the firm's files dating back to 2000, he said.

Last April, the Crown-owned insurer said an adjuster provided personal information about a trial's jurors to the external defence counsel working for the corporation at a civil trial.

The solicitor general's ministry asked Loukidelis to investigate the matter and report publicly.

Loukidelis's report said jury checking occurred six times, and on three occasions the information was passed on to lawyers working for the insurer.

He recommended better training for its staff to make sure they know the privacy rules against jury checking. He also recommended lawyers hired by the company know about its privacy policies.

ICBC will be urged to increase privacy training for its employees. (CBC)

"There is privacy training within ICBC, but we're recommending that the corporation, in effect, redouble its efforts on that front," Loukidelis said.

He said his office will follow up on its progress in implementing the recommendations to ensure they are rolled out quickly across the company.

The corporation's chief executive, Jon Schubert, said jury checking is unacceptable and all of the recommendations in the commissioner's report will be implemented.