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Document
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PO-1989
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File #
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PA-010024-1
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Institution/HIC
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Ministry of the Attorney General
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: The Ministry of the Attorney General (the Ministry) received a request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to a file relating to an investigation undertaken by the Ministry's Special Investigations Unit (the SIU), including all documents pertaining to the investigation. The Ministry located the responsive records and provided the requester with copies of a portion of them. Access to the majority of the records was denied by the Ministry, who claimed the application of the following exemptions contained in the Act : law enforcement - section 14(2)(a); invasion of privacy - section 21(1) with reference to the presumption in section 21(3)(b) (information compiled as part of an investigation into a possible violation of law). The requester, now the appellant, appealed the Ministry's decision to deny access to the responsive records. During the mediation stage of the appeal, as a result of the filing of two Authorizations executed by the police officers who were the subject of the investigation, an additional five pages of records were disclosed to the appellant. As no further mediation was possible, the file was moved into the Adjudication stage of the appeal process. I decided to seek the representations of the Ministry and another individual whose rights may be affected by the disclosure of the information contained in the records (the affected person), initially. I received submissions from both of these parties in response to the Notice. I decided to share the representations of the Ministry, in their entirety, with the appellant. However, the representations of the affected person were not shared with the appellant as they failed to address the issues in the appeal in any significant way other than to state his objection to the disclosure of the records. The appellant did not make any submissions in response to the Notice provided to him. The records at issue consist of the contents of the SIU's investigation file including administrative forms, various statements taken during the course of the investigation, correspondence and notes taken by the investigator, a draft version and the final Report of the SIU Director to the Attorney General, various photographs, medical records and ten audiotapes. DISCUSSION: PERSONAL INFORMATION The section 21 personal privacy exemption applies only to information which qualifies as "personal information", as defined in section 2(1) of the Act . "Personal information" is defined, in part, to mean recorded information about an identifiable individual. The Ministry submits that the records at issue contain the personal information of the individual who initiated the complaint to the SIU (the affected person), the subject police officers, other police and civilian witnesses and other identifiable individuals who were involved in the investigation and that none of the personal information relates to the appellant. The Ministry contends that the personal information includes such things as the age and sex of identifiable individuals (section 2(1)(a)), employment and medical history of these individuals (section 2(1)(b)), identifying numbers pertaining to individuals (section 2(1)(c)), addresses and telephone numbers (section 2(1)(d)), the personal views and opinions of various individuals or about other individuals (sections 2(1)(e) and (g)), correspondence of a private or confidential nature (section 2(1)(f)) and the names of individuals along with other personal information about them (section 2(1)(h)). I have reviewed the information contained in the records and find that it qualifies as personal information as that term is defined in section 2(1) of the Act . This personal information relates to the affected person and a number of other identifiable individuals, including the subject officers. The personal information does not relate to the appellant. INVASION OF PRIVACY Where a requester seeks personal information of another individual, section 21(1) of the Act prohibits an institution from releasing this information unless one of the exceptions in paragraphs (a) through (f) of section 21(1) applies. In the present case, I am of the view that only the exception in section 21(f) may apply. This section reads: A head shall refuse to disclose personal information to any person other than the individual to whom the information relates except, (f) if the disclosure does not constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy. Section 21(1)(f) Sections 21(2) and (3) of the Act provide guidance in determining whether disclosure of personal information would result in an unjustified invasion of the personal privacy of the individual to whom the information relates. Section 21(2) provides some criteria for the institution to consider in making this determination. Section 21(3) lists the types of information
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Signed by
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Donald Hale
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Published
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Jan 25, 2002
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Type
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Order
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© Copyright
2013
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. All Rights Reserved.
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