Commissioner’s Blog

Twice a year, I take the opportunity to visit a different community as part of the IPC’s Reaching Out to Ontario program. These visits give me, and the IPC executive team, a chance to update those working in the public service and health sectors − as well as the public − on emerging access ...

Do you know you have the right to access government information? Do you know how to exercise that right? Under Ontario’s access and privacy laws, you can request access to your personal information – as well as general information − held by provincial and municipal government institutions. ...

“Right to Know Week raises awareness of the role of freedom of information as a pillar of democracy. The right to access government-held information provides citizens with a window into how their governments are operating, supporting transparency, accountability and civic engagement. These demo...

Political parties hold power in government. They also hold sensitive personal information about individuals. For privacy and democracy, it can be a troubling mix. Data collected about individuals is on the rise, spurred on by advancements in computing and technology. Sophisticated analysis techni...

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about the new GDPR, but do you know what it means for your organization? Today the IPC released a new fact sheet on the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a new privacy law that came into effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR applies ...

Today, Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial privacy authorities jointly released a set of lesson plans designed for educators to teach students about privacy rights, digital literacy and online safety. These publications support a resolution by international privacy regulators calling f...

2017 was a milestone year for the Office of the information and Privacy Commissioner, one in which my office proudly celebrated 30 years of service on behalf of all Ontarians. Today I was pleased to release our 2017 Annual Report, Thirty Years of Access and Privacy Service, in which I call for a ...

Institutions under FIPPA and MFIPPA are permitted to charge fees for handling requests to access government records. Today, the IPC released an updated guidance document, Fees, Fee Estimates and Fee Waivers. A number of important orders and court decisions have been issued since the guide was fir...

Today, the Child, Youth and Family Services Act became law in Ontario. The proclamation of the act is another important step on the journey toward establishing an access and privacy framework for the child, youth and family services sector. Part X of the new law, which governs personal informatio...

There’s a new sensor on the block. Or at least there could be, if you’re living in the urban jungle of a smart city. For those not familiar with it, smart city is a term to describe a community that uses connected technologies to collect and analyze data to improve services for citizens. An e...