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This investigation was initiated as a result of a privacy complaint concerning the Ontario Food Survey (the survey).
The complainant received a letter from a university indicating that he had been selected to participate in the survey. The letter stated that the university, another university, and the federal and provincial health ministries, were conducting a survey on the eating habits of Ontarians. The letter went on the explain that the survey would be used "in the development of appropriate policies and programs that are important to health." According to the letter, the Ontario Ministry of Health (the Ministry) and the Principal Investigator for the university entered into a research agreement pursuant to section 21(1)(e) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act), which permitted disclosure of certain personal information for the purpose of conducting the survey.
The letter stated that the complainant's name had been selected at random by the Ministry and was disclosed together with his address, date of birth, sex and spoken language, to the Principal Investigator for the purposes of the survey. The complainant was advised that he would be contacted by a survey interviewer and asked to participate in an initial 90-minute interview in his home, possibly followed by a second 30-minute interview. According to the letter, any information provided by the complainant was to be treated confidentially, and only the researchers would know the complainant's identity.
The letter was signed by the Principal Investigator, the Co-Investigator from the Food Safety Program of the second university, and the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the Province of Ontario.
The complainant's position is that his personal information was disclosed by the Ministry to the university without his consent, and as a result, the disclosure was in contravention of the Act.
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