PC-020036-1

On July 10, 2002, the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services (the Ministry) notified the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario (the IPC) about a possible breach of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act). The Ministry advised that a number of completed application forms for certificates were missing from their offices. The Ministry could not confirm whether these documents were misfiled, lost, stolen or inadvertently shredded, but did indicate that the police were investigating the matter. The Ministry further stated that it had initiated an internal audit of all of its offices.

On this basis, the IPC opened an investigation file pursuant to our responsibilities under the Act. However, we deferred beginning our investigation until the completion of both the police investigation and the Ministry's own internal audit. By January 2003, the police had laid charges against an individual, though their investigation was still ongoing. Nevertheless, the Ministry suggested that we begin our investigation into the matter, which we did.

Our investigation focussed on the scope of the disclosure, notification of the individuals whose personal information may have been disclosed, and the security of the records processing and retention systems.

• FIPPA
• Section 42
• Regulation 460 s.4
• 2(1)

• unauthorized access to records