IPC - Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario | What's New

Certificate in Freedom of Information and Records Information Management

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Office of Open Learning at the University of Guelph is offering a Certificate in Freedom of Information (FOI) and Records Information Management (RIM) provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of FOI and RIM programs. Participants will have a sound understanding of the legislation affecting access and privacy and the knowledge, skills and abilities to develop, implement and sustain FOI and RIM programs in a variety of work environments. The curriculum reflects current issues and expectations of the Ontario Information Privacy Commissioner.

The certificate consists of four in-classroom courses. Each course is one-week in duration and takes place on the University of Guelph’s campus. There are no prerequisites for each course which means that participants can start at any time and have flexibility with respect to course sequence.

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2012 IPC Annual Statistical Reporting Deadline Extended

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

We have extended the deadline for filing statistical reports to March 15. All institutions covered by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) and Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) are required to submit statistics – even if you have had no requests during the 2012 calendar year. We have a collection of helpful resources to help you complete this task, including statistical forms, FAQ, completion guide, reconciliation chart to verify consistency of your statistics, and glossary of terms.

Institutions that fail to report will be noted in the IPC’s 2012 Annual Report.

You can file your stats online at https://statistics.ipc.on.ca. If you have forgotten your password, you can click on the link "Forgot Password" and you will be sent one automatically. If you are a first time user, please send an email to statistics.ipc@ipc.on.ca for your login and password.

If you need any assistance with completing your report please do not hesitate to email info@ipc.on.ca or you can contact one of the IPC’s Information Officers at 416-326-3333.

Privacy by Design featured in World Economic Forum

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, published a report in February of 2013 entitled, “Unlocking the Value of Personal Data: From Collection to Usage”. With input from stakeholders around the world, the publication explores opportunities to update the policies and practices that are used to manage personal data. The report also acknowledges the changing landscape of personal data ecosystem and the novel approaches that will be required to address it. These new approaches to data governance must be flexible, adaptive, and contextually driven. Most importantly, the solution will require a set of principles and guidelines to manage these challenges.

Privacy by Design has long provided important foundational principles that can protect the privacy of individuals and organizations. Already recognized as a global privacy standard in 2010, the report emphasizes that “Privacy by Design is key to ensuring privacy is proactively embedded into the technology itself”. The report also credits Privacy by Design with assisting to find privacy protective features required for the evolving personal data ecosystem. Whatever these new approaches may be, it is evident that Privacy by Design will be critical to the systems and initiatives that guide the personal data ecosystem.

Date Published:February 28, 2013

News From:World Economic Forum

Ontario privacy commissioner wants councillors included in freedom of information laws

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

In the wake of a Star investigation, commissioner Ann Cavoukian has asked the province to change access legislation.

Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner has asked the province to change legislation so the public can gain access to city councillors’ records.

If the province agrees, it would mark a milestone for government transparency in Canada.

With the exception of some provincial ministers, elected officials in this country are typically not covered by access to information laws.

Date Published: February 28, 2013

News From: Toronto Star

PET Award 2013 - Call for Nominations Now Open

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

You are invited to submit nominations to the 2013 PET Award.

The PET Award is presented annually to researchers who have made an outstanding contribution to the theory, design, implementation, or deployment of privacy enhancing technology. It is awarded at the annual Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS).

The PET Award carries a prize of 3000 USD thanks to the generous support of Microsoft. The crystal prize itself is offered by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada.

Any paper by any author written in the area of privacy enhancing technologies is eligible for nomination. However, the paper must have appeared in a refereed journal, conference, or workshop with proceedings published in the period from April 16, 2011 until March 31, 2013.

The complete Award rules including eligibility requirements can be found at http://petsymposium.org/award/rules.php.

Anyone can nominate a paper by sending an email message containing the following to award-chairs13@petsymposium.org:

Paper title
Author(s)
Author(s) contact information
Publication venue and full reference
Link to an available online version of the paper
A nomination statement of no more than 500 words.

All nominations must be submitted by March 31, 2013. The Award Committee will select one or two winners among the nominations received. Winners must be present at the PET Symposium in order to receive the Award. This requirement can be waived only at the discretion of the PET Advisory board.

More information about the PET award (including past winners) is available at http://petsymposium.org/award/

More information about the 2013 PET Symposium is available athttp://petsymposium.org/2013/.

Commissioner’s Statement on the Demise of Bill C-30

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

On February 11, 2012, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced that the government, “will not be proceeding with Bill C-30, and any attempts that we will continue to have to modernize the Criminal Code will not contain the measures contained in C-30, including the warrantless mandatory disclosure of basic subscriber information or the requirement for telecommunications service providers to build intercept capability within their systems.”

I’m utterly delighted that the government has listened to the enormous public outcry against unauthorized, warrantless access.

I want to express my thanks to Ontarians, and indeed all Canadians, who joined us by the thousands in standing up for freedom and democracy. Together we demonstrated that the true value of privacy must be recognized – and ideally enhanced, not diminished – in any effort to modernize law enforcement powers.

The death of Bill C-30 upholds our fundamental right to privacy, and in turn, preserves our freedoms. This is a victory for every Canadian!

Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D.
Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario

Related Article: Harper government kills contreversial Internet surveillance bill

Letter to the Editor: Dispelling myths on health privacy; The problem with protecting health privacy

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Dispelling myths on health privacy; The problem with protecting health privacy

Re: The problem with protecting health privacy, Opinion, Jan. 23

As privacy commissioner, I am responsible for overseeing the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA). I want to dispel the myth that PHIPA requires health-care providers to obtain express consent to share information with each other to provide care for their patients. Consent may be implied unless the individual explicitly states otherwise. The suggestion that consent can only be implied where “it is not reasonably possible to obtain the individual’s consent in a timely manner,” is emphatically not the case.

Health-care providers need not take a “defensive approach.” One of the stated purposes of PHIPA is to protect the privacy of individuals, “while facilitating the effective provision of health care.”

Contrary to this opinion piece, pharmacists are permitted to advise specialists about drug interactions; specialists are permitted to send reports to referring physicians; Community Care Access Centres are permitted to provide test results to referring physicians to facilitate treatment of an individual, unless the individual explicitly states otherwise. There are also several circumstances when information may be shared with family members.

Health-care providers are encouraged to read our papers, “Circle of Care: Sharing Personal Health Information for Health-Care Purposes” and “Dispelling the Myths Under the PHIPA,” available at www.ipc.on.ca, published in conjunction with key health sector stakeholders. Let’s get this right.

Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

From the Toronto Star. January 24, 2013.

Letter to the Editor from Commissioner Cavoukian: Misleading info about privacy (II)

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Misleading info about privacy (II)
National Post, December 7, 2012

Re: Misleading Info About Privacy Bill, letter to the editor, Dec. 6.

The amount of misinformation on Bill C-30 is staggering — on that we agree. But it ends there. If Chief Constable Jim Chu is saying the police would never “monitor citizens’ surfing habits without a warrant,” then I will be the first to thank him. But if subscriber data will be accessible without a warrant, then I don’t know how he can make such a claim.

Once the police have IP and email addresses, the ease with which they can connect the dots relating to online activity is indisputable. Analytic tools make it possible to link this information to identifiable individuals and combine information from multiple sources, to create detailed personal profiles.

I am not alone in this view. Professor Michael Geist has stated, “the ability to link [subscriber data] with other data will often open the door to a detailed profile about an identifiable person.”

Tragic cases of child exploitation are being used to try to scare Canadians into giving law enforcement unfettered access to subscriber data. It is indeed unfair to continue misrepresenting our concerns as hindering investigations of “criminals and predators.” On the contrary — we are trying to preserve the privacy and freedom of law-abiding citizens.

Ann Cavoukian, Information & Privacy Commissioner

Ann Cavoukian: Police need to get behind privacy

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

As Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, I have a deep respect for law enforcement. I frequently work closely with the police to help them succeed in fulfilling their important functions without sacrificing our vital right to privacy. The guidance I have provided over the years on the privacy implications of new technologies has given the police a roadmap on how to be effective, yet also protect our privacy.

Read the full article

Ontario Court of Appeal Overturns Conviction Due to Juror Vetting

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

On November 21, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that privacy invasive background checks on prospective jurors should result in a new trial for an accused.

In 2009, the Commissioner conducted a province-wide investigation into the background check practices of police and Crown Attorneys, culminating in our Report on Excessive Background Checks Conducted on Prospective Jurors. We found the practice to be both widespread and contrary to our FIPPA and MFIPPA. We were gratified to see that the panel quoted extensively from our report, and stated “In her well-reasoned report, the Commissioner came to the following relevant conclusions…” We are also pleased that the court has recognized the importance of privacy, and affirmed our view that unjustified invasions of jurors’ privacy can have a serious impact on the integrity of our criminal justice system.

The Supreme Court of Canada is currently deliberating on a group of appeals brought by individuals who were not successful in persuading the Ontario Court of Appeal to overturn their convictions on the basis of improper jury vetting. Our office appeared as an intervener at that hearing.