Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
March 24, 2010
Office of the Information and Privacy
Commissioner — Report A-2010-002 Released
The Information and Privacy
Commissioner, Ed Ring, has released his Report
A-2010-002 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/accessreports.htm
Report:
Report Date:
Public Body:
|
A-2010-002
March 17, 2010
Department of Business
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|
Summary: |
The Applicant on
May 29, 2008 filed two requests under the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act ("the ATIPPA" or "the Act")
with the Department of Business (the
"Department") for correspondence between the
Department and two named companies. The
Department refused to disclose any of the
requested information, citing paragraphs
24(1)(d) and (e) of the ATIPPA
(disclosure harmful to the financial or economic
interests of a public body). The Applicant filed
Requests for Review with this Office. During
attempts to resolve these matters informally the
Department claimed additional exceptions under
section 23 (disclosure harmful to
intergovernmental affairs or negotiations),
section 27 (disclosure harmful to business
interests of a third party) and section 30
(disclosure of personal information). Written
representations were received from the
Department and from three affected third parties
with respect to the application of section 27.
The Commissioner found that the Department had
failed to meet its burden of proof in the
application of sections 23 and 24. However, the
Commissioner nevertheless found that certain
information so clearly met the test for the
application of section 24 that he recommended
that it be withheld. The Commissioner found that
the Department was required to withhold some
information on the basis of section 27 and that
some personal information was required to be
severed under section 30. Accordingly the
Commissioner recommended release to the
Applicant of all of the information in each of
the records not protected from disclosure by
sections 24, 27 or 30. The Commissioner also
commented on other issues, including the refusal
to confirm or deny the existence of a record,
the blanket application of exceptions, and the
process to be followed in cases where section 27
is applicable. |
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Media contact:
Ed Ring
Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309
2010 03 24
10:00 a.m. |
