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Document
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P-29
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File #
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880079
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Institution/HIC
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Ministry of Health
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Summary
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Order are as follows: On February 10, 1988, a request was made to the Ministry of Health (the "institution") for the following: "...je demande à recevoir par la poste copie entière, complète et lisible de tous les documents, de quelque nature que ce soit, qui concernent ma personne et qui sont en possession de votre ministère et de la Régie de l'assurance - maladie de l'Ontario, dans quelque banque de renseignements personnels que ce soit. Entre autres, je demande les renseignements personnels contenus dans les banques suivantes: dossier de référence des réclamations médicales; correspondance, personnes assurées et public; système administratif de l'immatriculation; comptes à recevoir; correspondance, médecins". Translation "...I would like to receive by mail a complete and legible copy of all personal information concerning me, regardless of its nature, contained in any personal information banks in the possession of your ministry and the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). As well, I request access to personal information contained in the following information banks: Medical Claims Reference File (CREF); Correspondence - Insured Persons and General Public; Enrolment - Subscriber Administration System (SAS), OHIP - Accounts Receivable, Correspondence - Physicians and Practitioners. By letter dated March 16, 1988, the institution notified the requester that access to the records requested would be granted. This letter further advised that "it is our practice to disclose personal information to the individual in person in order to protect the individual's privacy and maintain confidentiality. Therefore, please phone our office collect in order to make arrangements for you to pick up your records from our office or another government office nearest your location. It is required that you obtain your records personally by providing a photo identification (ie. driver's license, passport) and signing a release form. Please contact this office for the necessary arrangements". By letter dated March 22, 1988, the institution advised the requester that the records were at the Ministry of Health's Oshawa office, and that upon his attendance at that office, with photo identification and the letter, he would receive the records. The institution has advised me that on March 25, 1988, the requester spoke to the manager of customer services at the institution's Oshawa District office, and objected to being asked to come to that office to pick up the requested records. By letter to me dated April 6, 1988, the requester appealed the institution's decision that required him to travel to Oshawa in order to receive access to the requested records. The requester reiterated his request to receive the records by mail. On April 19, 1988, I gave notice of the appeal to the institution. Between April 12, 1988 and June 6, 1988, efforts were made by my office to settle this appeal. Arrangements were made by the institution for the records to be available for pick up by the appellant at the Port Hope office of another institution. The appellant still objected to having to show identification with a photo and stated that he had no such identification. The institution agreed not to insist on photo identification but still required the personal attendance of the appellant with some other form of identification, such as a social insurance card or an OHIP card. This arrangement was not acceptable to the appellant who insisted on receiving the records by mail. On June 23, 1988 and June 24, 1988, respectively, I sent notice to the institution and the appellant that I was conducting an inquiry to review the decision of the head. Accompanying these letters was an Appeals Officer's Report. By letter dated July 18, 1988, the appellant and the institution were invited to submit written representations to me on the issues arising from the appeal. I received written representations from the institution. To the date of this Order, no representations have been received from the appellant, although the appellant acknowledged receipt of my letter of July 18, 1988. As I felt that the issue in this appeal was of general interest to all institutions, I invited the Management Board of Cabinet, Freedom of Information and Privacy Branch to make written representations in this appeal. The Branch chose not to do so. At issue in this appeal is whether personal attendance and verification of the identity of the requester, prior to the release of personal information, are reasonable requirements imposed by the institution. The right of the appellant to obtain access to personal information about himself, held by the institution, is not at issue in this appeal. The institution has agreed to provide the appellant with full access to the records he requested. One of the purposes of the Act is "to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by institutions and to provide individuals with a right of access to that information" (subsection 1(b)). The right of an individual to obtain access to his or her personal information in the custody or under the control of an institution is provided for in subsection 47(1) of the Act . The Act protects personal information by requiring government institutions to follow strict guidelines on the collection and use of such information and by prohibiting, subject to certain specified exceptions, its disclosure to anyone other than the individual to whom it relates. By its very nature a request for access to personal information places a high level of responsibility on the institution. In order to protect the privacy of the individual to whom the information relates, the institution must take steps to ensure, as best it reasonably can, that the requester is indeed the person whom he or she purports to be. The institution must then provide access to the personal information in a manner that is not unnecessarily restrictive. In view of the fact that requests for personal information under the Act occur frequently, and that the Act gives little guidance as to the manner in which access is to be afforded, I will include in this Order some general remarks which I hope will be of use to institutions dealing with such requests. Verification of the Identity of the Requester Upon receipt of a request for personal information under subsection 48(1) of the Act , the institution must take steps to satisfy itself that the requester is the person to whom the personal information relates. The institution must be ever mindful of its responsibilities with respect to privacy protection. The responsibility for verifying the identity of the requester of personal information can be fulfilled using more than one technique. An institution is in the best position to determine, on a case-by-case basis, what it will take to satisfy itself as to a requester's identity. Each institution must give serious thought to
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Signed by
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Sidney Linden
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Published
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Dec 15, 1988
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Type
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Order
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