Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
October 5, 2016

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2016-022 Released

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Donovan Molloy, has released his Report A-2016-022 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/reports/commissioner

Summary:

The Applicant requested e-mails dealing with government business from the Minister’s personal e-mail account for a specified period. The Department provided records, but the Applicant complained to this Office, stating that he believed he had not been provided with all records and that the Minister’s personal e-mail account had not been searched. The Commissioner found that the Department had conducted a reasonable search, which included the Minister’s personal e-mail account. The Commissioner reiterated concerns about the practice of using personal e-mail accounts to conduct business, urged the government to produce legislation imposing the duty to document on all public bodies, and recommended that the Minister establish a policy prohibiting the use of personal e-mail to conduct government business.

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Media contact:

Donovan Molloy, Q.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner 709-729-6309

2016 10 05                              3:20 p.m.