Don't worry about Big Brother. It's his younger siblings you've got to watch out for. Public Eye has learned at least one federal political party, the Conservatives - and possibly the Liberals and New Democrats - are using sophisticated computer programs that allow operatives easy access any voting information you give their party, even after the ballot boxes have been packed away.

Of course, recording that information is nothing new. Local campaigns routinely phone up riding residents and ask them how they're going to vote. But, based on what we've been able to piece together so far, instead of punching those responses into a nearby computer or writing them down on forms that will be packed up when the election is over, they're inputted into online databases that can be searched by any authorized user anywhere in Canada, as long as they have an Internet connection.

That means, at the end of this election, the federal parties will have fingertip access to some very detailed voting information provided by millions of Canadians. In fact, according to one campaigner, the Conservatives are even recording which households agree to put party signs on their lawns.

Public Eye has contacted each of the three parties about privacy concerns surrounding these systems, including who gets access and how the information the parties collect will be used. But so far only the Conservatives have responded. Press officer Katie Martin pleasantly but firmly told us the party wouldn't comment on it's so-called Constituency Information Management System except to say, "there are no privacy concerns as long as (CIMS) stays private." The party also previously refused to discuss details on how the system works.

A few minutes later, after explaining to Ms. Martin how her answer might not go over well with Canadians, Public Eye received another phone call from party leader Stephen Harper's deputy communications director Yaroslav Varan. The following is an edited transcript of that interview:

Public Eye What privacy safeguards have been built into CIMS, since this system is basically recording all the voting information Canadians are giving the Conservatives during this campaign?

Mr. Varan All the information (on the database) is voluntarily given to us. And all our databases, be it something like this or be it party memberships or whatever, are privacy safeguarded. And we've got very tight security over who has access to those databases. And those (who have access) are a very select few party officials who are directly involved in working with the respective databases. And that's it. And as long as (the information) is kept and used for party purposes, there are no privacy concerns.

Public Eye Are you notifying voters when you contact them that their voting information is going to be stored in this manner?

Mr. Varan Ummm...you know to be honest I haven't heard of anyone saying, "Who do you support? We're going to enter you into a database." People typically see their name being scribbled down onto a clipboard (when candidates go door-knocking and ask them how they're going to vote).

Public Eye But you can see that there's a bit of a difference between recording something on a clipboard and recording it in an online database that can accessed fairly easily?

Mr. Varan Well it can't be accessed easily. I have no access to it. As deputy communications director I have no access to it. And it's no more easily accessed then what they did in the old school days (where voting information was recorded on) hundreds of sheets of paper clipped together with giant paperclips. And those (sheets) were photocopiable and faxable. They could be kept in your trunk. Your trunk could be broken into. CIMS is just a different kind of (record-keeping system). But it's no more or no less secure then the paper days of old.

Public Eye How do you determine who gets access to this particular system?

Mr. Varan It's just the party employees directly involved in using the information for the purposes for which it's intended. It's a staffing decision...

Public Eye So there's no internal process to determine who gets access to this system. It's just whoever needs access to the system?

Mr. Varan Certain people are cleared to have access to certain information. Just like certain people have access to the party bank account numbers. It's the people who need to have access to it.

Public Eye In order to get access to CIMS, constituency associations must pay a $2,000 startup fee and sign a licensing agreement. According to that agreement, "the information contained in (CIMS is) confidential and will only be used for the purposes of the Conservative Fund Canada, the Licensors or the Licensee." How are you making sure those provisions are enforced?

Mr. Varan I can't imagine what other purposes (that information) could be used for...

Mr. Varan also couldn't say who determines which campaign workers get access to CIMS. However, according to the CIMS licensing agreement, access issues will be decided by the CIMS Oversight Team - a team whose membership Mr. Varan refused to disclose. That licensing agreement indicates each constituency association that pays the startup fee is entitled "to two seats for qualified candidates at a regionally delivered training session" for CIMS. Mr. Varan couldn't say whether this was the first time the Conservatives had used a centralized online database to store voter information.