New Year, New Access and Privacy Rights for Children, Youth and Families

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 took effect at the stroke of midnight on January 1, when Part X of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act became law and ushered in an expanded mandate for the IPC.

Our office has been busy preparing for Part X over the past year, and we look forward to working with this new sector.

To help us help you, we have created materials for individuals and organizations aimed at breaking down some of the finer points of these new rights and rules.

We hope you’ll find them useful. We’re also available to help with any questions you have about this new access and privacy framework.

As with the other sectors we work with, child and family service providers are required to track and submit annual statistics to the IPC. If you haven’t already, make it your new year’s resolution to put your tracking program in place and get 2020 off to a good start!

 

Brian Beamish
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

Media Contact

For a quick response, kindly e-mail or phone us with details of your request such as media outlet, topic, and deadline:
Telephone: 416-326-3965

Social Media

The IPC maintains channels on Twitter, YouTube and Linkedin in its efforts to communicate to Ontarians and others interested in privacy, access and related issues.