Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2019-025 Released

  • Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner

September 24, 2019

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Michael Harvey, has released his Report A-2019-025 under authority of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015. A summary of the Report is included below.

To view the Report in its entirety, please go to www.oipc.nl.ca/reports/commissioner

Report: A-2019-025
Report Date: September 23, 2019
Public Body: Department of Justice and Public Safety
Summary: The Department of Justice and Public Safety received a request for information relating to the number of transgender women housed in female correctional facilities for the period January 1, 2019 to June 12, 2019. The Department invoked section 17(2) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 and refused to confirm or deny whether records responsive to the request existed. The Commissioner determined that given the small population of incarcerated females for the requested period, and the accessibility of other publicly available information, release of such statistical information would be an unreasonable invasion of an individual’s privacy. However, the Commissioner further found that there was no basis to conclude that the acknowledgment of whether records exist would in itself be an unreasonable invasion of an individual’s privacy or likely to lead to other harm, and therefore section 17(2) did not apply. The Commissioner recommended that the Department advise the Complainant whether responsive records exist, and if so, to release such records after severing any information necessary to protect the privacy of individuals.

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Media contact
Sean Murray
Director of Research & Quality Assurance
709-729-6309

2019 09 24 12:05 pm