|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Document
|
|
M-217
|
|
|
|
|
|
Institution/HIC
|
|
Corporation of the City of York
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summary
|
|
ORDER BACKGROUND: The Corporation of the City of York (the City) received a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to all records of noise complaints made in respect of an identified property, including any correspondence or actions taken from September 1987 to March 1988. In its decision, the City refused to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records under section 8(3) of the Act and alternatively claimed the exemption provided by section 8(2)(a). The requester appealed the City's decision to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records and to deny access. During the course of mediation, the City withdrew its reliance on section 8(3) of the Act and confirmed the existence of the one record it had identified as responsive to the request. The City still denied access to the record in its entirety on the basis of the exemption in section 8(2)(a) of the Act . Further mediation was not successful and notice that an inquiry was being conducted to review the City's decision was sent to the appellant, the City and one affected person. In the Notice of Inquiry forwarded to the parties, the Commissioner's office raised the issue of the mandatory exemption provided by section 14 of the Act . Representations were received from the City and the affected person. While these representations were being considered, Commissioner Tom Wright Issued Order M- 170 which interpreted several statutory provisions of the Act in a way which differed from the interpretation developed in previous orders. Since a new approach to the operation of the Act was being adopted and because the same statutory provisions are at issue in the present appeal, it was determined that copies of Order M- 170 should be provided to all the parties. The parties were then afforded the opportunity to state whether the contents of Order M-170 would cause them to change or supplement the representations which they had previously made. No additional representations were received from the City or the affected person. Representations were received from the appellant. The record at issue in this appeal is a three-page complaint/investigation form with typewritten and handwritten entries. ISSUES: A. Whether any of the information contained in the record qualifies as "personal information" as defined in section 2(l) of the Act . B. If the answer to Issue A is yes, whether the mandatory exemption provided by section 14(1) of the Act applies. C. Whether the discretionary exemption provided by section 8(2)(a) of the Act applies. SUBMISSIONS/CONCLUSIONS: ISSUE A: Whether any of the information contained in the record qualifies as "personal information" as defined in section 2(l) of the Act . The City has claimed in its representations that the record contains "personal information" as defined by section 2(l) of the Act . In particular, it makes reference to paragraphs (d), (e), and (h) of the definition as applying to some of the information contained in the record. These paragraphs read as follows: "personal information" means recorded information about an identifiable individual, including, ... (d) the address, telephone number, fingerprints or blood type of the individual, (e) the personal opinions or views of the individual except if they relate to another individual, ... (h) the individual's name if it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual; The record does contain certain information relating to two individuals in particular. First, the record sets out the name and address of the owner of the property about which the complaint was made, as well as comments made by this individual to the inspector. Second, it also contains the name, address and telephone number of the person who made the complaint. I am satisfied that this information falls within the provisions of paragraphs (d) and (h) of the definition and is, therefore, personal information as defined by section 2(l) of the Act . The City relies on paragraph (e) of the definition in respect of the comments of the complainant concerning the investigation conducted by the City and the ultimate resolution of the complaint. The City states that this information constitutes the "personal opinions or views" of the individual and, thus, subparagraph (e) applies. In my view, even if the comment could be considered as an "opinion" of the complainant, that opinion could only be connected to the individual by other personal information contained in the record. There is nothing in the context of the complainant's comment that could independently identify the complainant. In the circumstances of this appeal, I conclude that the comments of the complainant cannot be considered personal information about an identifiable individual if the personal identifiers of the complainant are removed from the record. ISSUE B: If the answer to Issue A is yes, whether the mandatory exemption provided by section 14(l) of the Act applies. Under Issue A I found that the record does contain personal information. Once it has been determined that a record contains personal information, section 14(l) of the Act prohibits disclosure of this information to any person other than the individual to whom the information relates except in certain circumstances listed under the section. The City submits, and I agree, that the only exception to the section 14(l) mandatory exemption which has potential application in the circumstances of this appeal is section 14(l)(f) which reads as follows: A head shall refuse to disclose personal information to any person other than the individual to whom the information relates except,
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legislation
|
|
-
MFIPPA
-
14(1)
-
14(3)(b)
-
2(1) personal information
-
2(1) personal information (g)
-
8(2)(a)
-
Section 16
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subject Index
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Published
|
|
Nov 18, 1993
|
|
|
|
|
|
Type
|
|
Order
|
|
|
|
|
|
<<
Back
|
|
|
|
Back to Top
|
 |
|
|
|
© Copyright
2013
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. All Rights Reserved.
|