Jan 28 2020
Today is Privacy Day. It also marks my last Privacy Day as the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. As my term comes to an end, my thoughts turn to the accomplishments of the last five years and the challenges that lay before us.
My first task on being appointed commissioner was to se...
Jan 06 2020
New year, new rules.
In Ontario, children, youth and families now have a legally protected right to request access and corrections to their personal information held by children’s aid societies and other service providers. They can also file privacy complaints with our office.
These changes too...
Dec 30 2019
As the new year approaches, so does the time to submit your statistics to the IPC. First, let me say that I appreciate the important work that institutions and health information custodians do to keep track and report statistics relating to requests under Ontario’s freedom of information and he...
Dec 17 2019
LifeLabs recently notified the public about a cyberattack involving unauthorized access to its computer systems. Here is what you need to know about this breach:
Our office is working with the B.C. privacy commissioner to investigate the breach. We will be looking at what measures LifeLabs could...
Dec 09 2019
Police leaders from across Canada have launched new best practices for responding to sexual violence. They include a made-in-Ontario approach to case review, one that draws on community expertise, while still protecting the privacy of complainants, witnesses and others.
Last week, the Canadian As...
Nov 14 2019
The public’s right to access government information is an integral part of a high functioning, democratic, and accountable society. In Ontario, it is incumbent on government institutions to comply with our access laws, and it’s my job to look for any barriers to access that might arise, wheth...
Oct 30 2019
The conversation about the compelling public interest override is ongoing for those of us who administer provincial access laws. Supporting the public’s efforts to access government information is important. It’s also vital that institutions carefully examine the public interest override prov...
Oct 21 2019
On January 1, 2020, Part X of the Child, Youth, and Family Services Act comes into force, creating a new access and privacy framework for Ontario’s child and family services sector. The Information and Privacy Commissioner will oversee these new rules for the collection, use and disclosure of...
Oct 09 2019
Despite the existence of access and privacy laws for the last three decades, some public institutions still occasionally lose sight of their purpose, which is to promote transparent and accountable government.
A recent order by my office illustrates the high bar the law sets to justify denying an...
Sep 26 2019
Open Letter from Commissioner Brian Beamish re: Sidewalk Labs’ Proposal