Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
July 6, 2017

Investigation into Alleged Breaches of Privacy Associated with the Release of Information Pursuant to the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act

Information and Privacy Commissioner Donovan Molloy, Q.C. announced today that the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has commenced an own motion investigation into breaches of privacy associated with the release of public sector salary information on June 30, 2017. The information, released pursuant to the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act (PSCTA), appears to have included:

• Personal information of employees that were not covered by the PSCTA;
• Personal information of employees granted an exemption from the PSCTA; and,
• Personal information beyond that authorized for disclosure pursuant to the PSCTA.

The Commissioner was first informed by the media that the disclosure pursuant to the PSCTA appeared to contain information outside the scope of that Act. On July 1, 2017 the Human Resource Secretariat issued notifications to affected employees pursuant to section 64(3) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 (ATIPPA, 2015).

Newfoundland and Labrador’s ATIPPA, 2015 establishes how personal information is to be handled. It protects the privacy of personal information held by public bodies. The Commissioner’s role includes oversight of both the ATIPPA, 2015 and the investigation of alleged breaches of the privacy requirements imposed upon public bodies.

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Media contact
Janet O’Reilly
Senior Access and Privacy Analyst
(709) 729-1114

2017 07 06                              10:40 a.m.