The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Phil Wall, has released his reports 2006-001 and 2006-002 under authority of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Summaries of the reports are included below.

To view the reports in their entirety, please go to //www.oipc.gov.nl.ca/

Report 2006-001
Report Date: March 6, 2006
Public Body: Department of Health and Community Services

Summary: The applicant applied under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act ("ATIPPA") for access to the MCP billing information of individual physicians. The Department of Health and Community Services decided to release this information, but before doing so provided third party notification in accordance with section 28 of the ATIPPA. A third party, acting on behalf of the majority of third parties, objected to the release of this information and filed a Request for Review with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. The third party claimed that the responsive records should be withheld in accordance with section 30(1) (personal information) and section 27 (business interests of a third party). The commissioner agreed that the records were personal information but concluded that their disclosure would reveal financial details of a contract to supply services to a public body and, therefore, are exempt from section 30(1). With respect to section 27, the commissioner found that the release of the records would not meet all three parts of the harms test set out in this exception. The commissioner concluded that neither of the exceptions claimed by the third party applied and upheld the decision of the Department of Health and Community Services to release the information as per the applicant�s request. This report is written in conjunction with the companion Report 2006-002.

Report 2006-002
Report Date: March 6, 2006
Public Body: Department of Health and Community Services

Summary: The applicant applied under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act ("ATIPPA") for access to the MCP billing information of individual physicians. The Department of Health and Community Services decided to release this information, but before doing so provided third party notification in accordance with section 28 of the ATIPPA. This request for information is the same request that was investigated and reported in my report 2006-001. However, in this case a second third party objected to the release of the information, in accordance with section 27(1), and filed a separate Request for Review with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. The commissioner determined that there was no evidence to suggest that this Request for Review should be treated any differently and, consequently, has decided that the arguments and discussion specified in Report 2006-001 are directly relevant to this case. The commissioner concluded that the exception claimed by the third party did not apply and upheld the decision of the Department of Health and Community Services to release the information as per the applicant�s request. This report is written in conjunction with the companion Report 2006-001.

Media contact: Sandy Hounsell, Executive Director (709) 729-6309

2006 03 10                                         9:55 a.m.