Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
January 4, 2010Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
– Report P-2009-002 Released
The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ed Ring,
has released his Report P-2009-002 under authority of
the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act. A summary of the Report is included below.
To view the report in its entirety, please go to
//www.oipc.nl.ca/privacyreports.htm
Report: P-2009-002
Report Date: December 21, 2009
Public Body: Town of Steady Brook
Summary:
During the period of June 6,
2008 to June 27, 2008 the Office of the
Information and Privacy Commissioner
received three Privacy Complaints
under the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act ("ATIPPA")
from four (4) separate individuals
regarding the Town of Steady Brook (the
"Town"). Each Complainant stated that
their personal information had been
disclosed in a report prepared by the
Department of Municipal Affairs
("Municipal Affairs") with respect to
the operational activities of the Town
(the "Operational Review Report"). Eight
copies of the Operational Review Report
were hand-delivered by Municipal Affairs
to the Town Manager with the instruction
that the copies were only to be provided
to the Town Manager, Town Councillors,
and the Town Office Assistant (the
"Original Distribution"). A letter which
accompanied each copy of the Operational
Review Report confirmed this limited
distribution and requested that any
additional copies be requested through
the ATIPPA. Subsequent to the
Original Distribution, members of the
public and the media indicated or
inferred to other members of the public
that they had received or seen copies of
the Operational Review Report (the
"Additional Distribution"). Each of the
Complainants has alleged that their
personal information was contained in
the Operational Review Report and,
therefore, was not adequately protected
pursuant to section 36; was improperly
used pursuant to section 38; and was
improperly disclosed pursuant to section
39 as a result of the Additional
Distribution. Certain of the
Complainants have also cited section
33(2) (information regarding collection
of personal information) and section 72
(offence). It is the belief of the
Complainants that the Additional
Distribution must have been made by a
person or persons who received the
Operational Review Report as part of the
Original Distribution.
The Commissioner did not make any
findings against Municipal Affairs as
the Complaints were made against the
Town alone. The Commissioner did,
however, make a few comments pertaining
to Municipal Affairs as this was
necessary to thoroughly complete this
Report. The Commissioner found that the
Town had properly collected the
Complainants' personal information in
Town records. The Commissioner also
found that this personal information was
used in the Operational Review Report in
accordance with the ATIPPA and
the Municipal Affairs Act. The
Commissioner further found that this
personal information was disclosed in
accordance with the ATIPPA by the
Town to Municipal Affairs. The
Commissioner also found that the
creation of the Operational Review
Report was permitted by legislation, but
the inclusion of some Town information
may have been unnecessary to achieve the
purposes of Municipal Affairs. Beyond
these findings, the Commissioner did
accept that on a balance of
probabilities it was likely that the
Additional Distribution occurred, but
could not identify by whom the
Additional Distribution was carried out.
The Commissioner felt it was equally
possible that the contents of the
Operational Review Report were discussed
verbally with persons outside the
Original Distribution and that this
resulted in the disclosure of
information upon which the media and
public statements were based. Again, the Commissioner could not
identify who would have made these
statements. Without further information
the Commissioner was unable to determine
with certainty whether any of the
disclosure from the Additional
Distribution was made in accordance with
the ATIPPA; however, it is likely
that there was a breach of section 39
based upon the content of the
Operational Review Report.
The Commissioner determined on a
balance of probabilities that the ATIPPA
was breached; however, the
Commissioner could not identify the
source of the breach and could not
comment as to whether an offence may
have occurred. The Commissioner made
recommendations only in respect of the
need and importance of privacy training
within public bodies.
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Media contact:
Ed Ring
Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309
2010 01 04 9:30 a.m.