Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2013-006 Released

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ed Ring, has released his Report A-2013-006 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: A-2013-006
Report Date: April 16, 2013
Public Body: Memorial University of Newfoundland

Summary: The Applicant applied to Memorial University of Newfoundland (“Memorial” or the “University”) under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “ATIPPA”) for access to records relating to the review of the renewal of a faculty dean at Memorial. Memorial released the responsive records to the Applicant in part with portions severed in accordance with section 20(1)(a) (policy advice or recommendations), section 21(a) (legal advice) and section 30(1) (personal information) of the ATIPPA. The Applicant filed a Request for Review with this Office for a review of the exceptions claimed by Memorial and the Commissioner found that Memorial had properly applied the exceptions claimed under the ATIPPA. During the Request for Review the meaning and scope of the word “review” in the Applicant’s access request became an issue in determining whether Memorial had conducted a complete search in responding to the Applicant’s access request. The Commissioner found that Memorial’s interpretation of the word “review” was narrow and recommended that Memorial conduct a further search for responsive records to the end date requested by the Applicant in the original access request.

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Media contact:
Ed Ring
Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309

2013 04 19             1:00 p.m.