Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
May 18, 2016
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner - Report P-2016-001 Released
The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ed Ring, has released his Report P-2016-001 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
Summary: The Complainant submitted three privacy complaints against the Department of Justice, now known as the Department of Justice and Public Safety (the "Department") under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the "ATIPPA"). Two of the complaints involved the use of audio and video surveillance systems at the St. John's Lockup and the third complaint involved the disclosure of personal information. The first complaint was resolved and the Commissioner made a recommendation that the Department adopt policies and procedures related to its surveillance practices. This Office then attempted to follow up on the implementation of this recommendation and no indication of compliance was forthcoming. In respect of the remaining complaints the Department did not respond in a timely or sufficient manner. Given the related issue of excessive delays and the possibility of a systemic problem, the Commissioner decided to respond to all three matters collectively. The Commissioner found that Department failed to comply with the recommendations in respect of the first complaint; the Department used the Complainant's personal information contrary to the ATIPPA in respect of the second complaint; and improperly disclosed and inadequately protected the Complainant's personal information in respect of the third complaint. The Commissioner made several recommendations to the Department relating to both its need for policies and procedures and the need for more timely and diligent actions by the Department when responding to this Office.
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Media contact:
Ed Ring
Information and Privacy Commissioner 709-729-6309 |
2016 05 18 10:20 a.m.