BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
Insights into Access and privacy
Victoria, January 25, 2023 – Polling results released during Data Privacy Week reveal British Columbians’ views on freedom of information and privacy.
“The public continues to see that a fee to file a request for information is unnecessary, and that legislative timelines should be met,” said BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) Executive Director Jason Woywada. “The public as expressed in this polling, the Commissioner in his recent report, and civil society remain opposed to this government’s actions in this area. We hope the Premier and Minister of Citizens’ Services will move quickly to improve government transparency and accountability rather than entrench the barriers they have put in place.”
At the end of 2022, FIPA commissioned an IPSOS poll, a leading independent market research company, on public opinion regarding several issues. These included public opinion on the government acting upon the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s recommendations, private companies and personal health information, access to information processing times and fees, and general knowledge about access to information and privacy rights. The IPSOS release is here.
A summary of the questions and results are posted below. Full poll results are in the MS excel here.
Nearly nine-in-ten (88%) British Columbians say that addressing gaps and recommendations regarding security gaps in BC’s public health database from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner is important for the BC provincial government.
A majority of British Columbians (57%) do not believe people should be required to pay a fee to file a freedom of information request for information, compared to about half as many (28%) who think there should be a fee. Most British Columbians (85%) say it is important for the BC government to reduce its average processing time and meet its legislated requirements with respect to freedom of information requests, including more than four-in-ten (44%) who say this is very important.
Regarding private companies and personal health information: nine-in-ten (90%) British Columbians agree that “It is important for private companies to protect your personal health information” (70% strongly agree, 20% somewhat agree). British Columbians do not agree that “private companies should be able to profit from the resale of your personal health information,” with nearly eight-in-ten (78%) who disagree (68% strongly disagree, 10% somewhat disagree) and about two-in-ten (18%) BC residents who agree.
FIPA continues to monitor public awareness and understanding of access to information and privacy in British Columbia. Close to half of British Columbians said they are aware of BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (47%) and aware that they can request access to their personal information and general information from public bodies (47%). Fewer than four-in-ten (37%) are aware of the right to file a complaint relating to the handling of their personal information and about three-in-ten (31%) say they are aware of BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner.
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Background:
IPSOS posed the following questions to 800 British Columbians on behalf of FIPA, and received the following responses:
1. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) recently released a report highlighting significant gaps in the protection of personal Health Information in the Provincial Health Information System. How important should addressing the gaps and recommendations from the OIPC report be for the provincial Government of British Columbia?
Top 2 Box (Net) 88%, Very Important 59%, Somewhat Important 29%
Bottom 2 Box (Net) 4%, Not Very Important 4%, Not Important at all 1%
Don’t know 8%
2_1. Research by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives highlighted the expanding government subsidization of private health care in British Columbia. Please provide your level of agreement/disagreement to the following statements: – It is important for private companies to protect your personal health information.
Top 2 Box (Net) 90%, Strongly agree 70%, Somewhat agree 20%
Bottom 2 Box (Net) 6%, Somewhat disagree 4%, Strongly disagree 2%
Don’t know 3%
2_2. – Private companies should be able to profit from the resale of your personal health information.
Top 2 Box (Net) 18%, Strongly agree 6%, Somewhat agree 12%
Bottom 2 Box (Net) 78%, Somewhat disagree 10%, Strongly disagree 68%
Don’t know 4%
3. The average processing time for the Government of BC to process a general freedom of information request is 65 days. The legislated requirement is for requests to be processed in 30 days. How important is it for the BC government to reduce its average processing time and meet its legislated requirements?
Top 2 Box (Net) 85%, Very Important 44%, Somewhat Important 41%
Bottom 2 Box (Net) 9%, Not Very Important 9%, Not Important at all *%
Don’t know 6%
4. Some governments do not require a fee to file general information requests to public bodies. The BC provincial government currently charges a $10 application fee for any general request. Should people be required to pay a fee to file a freedom of information request for information?
Yes 28%, No 57%, Don’t know 15%
5. Choose the statements that best reflect your knowledge of your access to information privacy rights.
I am aware of BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Aware 47%
I am aware of BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner
Aware 31%
I am aware that I can request access to my personal information and general information from public bodies
Aware 47%
I am aware of the right to file a complaint relating to the handling of my personal information
Aware 37%
These are the findings of an Ipsos online poll of 800 adult British Columbians conducted December 22-27, 2022 on behalf of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA). These data were statistically weighted by region, age, gender and education to ensure the sample composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to Census data. The precision of Ipsos polls containing online data is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the overall poll is accurate to within +/ -3.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all adult BC residents been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
Victoria, January 25, 2023 – Polling results released during Data Privacy Week reveal British Columbians’ views on freedom of information and privacy.
“The public continues to see that a fee to file a request for information is unnecessary, and that legislative timelines should be met,” said BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) Executive Director Jason Woywada. “The public as expressed in this polling, the Commissioner in his recent report, and civil society remain opposed to this government’s actions in this area. We hope the Premier and Minister of Citizens’ Services will move quickly to improve government transparency and accountability rather than entrench the barriers they have put in place.”
At the end of 2022, FIPA commissioned an IPSOS poll, a leading independent market research company, on public opinion regarding several issues. These included public opinion on the government acting upon the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s recommendations, private companies and personal health information, access to information processing times and fees, and general knowledge about access to information and privacy rights. The IPSOS release is here.
A summary of the questions and results are posted below. Full poll results are in the MS excel here.
Nearly nine-in-ten (88%) British Columbians say that addressing gaps and recommendations regarding security gaps in BC’s public health database from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner is important for the BC provincial government.
A majority of British Columbians (57%) do not believe people should be required to pay a fee to file a freedom of information request for information, compared to about half as many (28%) who think there should be a fee. Most British Columbians (85%) say it is important for the BC government to reduce its average processing time and meet its legislated requirements with respect to freedom of information requests, including more than four-in-ten (44%) who say this is very important.
Regarding private companies and personal health information: nine-in-ten (90%) British Columbians agree that “It is important for private companies to protect your personal health information” (70% strongly agree, 20% somewhat agree). British Columbians do not agree that “private companies should be able to profit from the resale of your personal health information,” with nearly eight-in-ten (78%) who disagree (68% strongly disagree, 10% somewhat disagree) and about two-in-ten (18%) BC residents who agree.
FIPA continues to monitor public awareness and understanding of access to information and privacy in British Columbia. Close to half of British Columbians said they are aware of BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (47%) and aware that they can request access to their personal information and general information from public bodies (47%). Fewer than four-in-ten (37%) are aware of the right to file a complaint relating to the handling of their personal information and about three-in-ten (31%) say they are aware of BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner.
-30-
Background:
IPSOS posed the following questions to 800 British Columbians on behalf of FIPA, and received the following responses:
1. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) recently released a report highlighting significant gaps in the protection of personal Health Information in the Provincial Health Information System. How important should addressing the gaps and recommendations from the OIPC report be for the provincial Government of British Columbia?
Top 2 Box (Net) 88%, Very Important 59%, Somewhat Important 29%
Bottom 2 Box (Net) 4%, Not Very Important 4%, Not Important at all 1%
Don’t know 8%
2_1. Research by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives highlighted the expanding government subsidization of private health care in British Columbia. Please provide your level of agreement/disagreement to the following statements: – It is important for private companies to protect your personal health information.
Top 2 Box (Net) 90%, Strongly agree 70%, Somewhat agree 20%
Bottom 2 Box (Net) 6%, Somewhat disagree 4%, Strongly disagree 2%
Don’t know 3%
2_2. – Private companies should be able to profit from the resale of your personal health information.
Top 2 Box (Net) 18%, Strongly agree 6%, Somewhat agree 12%
Bottom 2 Box (Net) 78%, Somewhat disagree 10%, Strongly disagree 68%
Don’t know 4%
3. The average processing time for the Government of BC to process a general freedom of information request is 65 days. The legislated requirement is for requests to be processed in 30 days. How important is it for the BC government to reduce its average processing time and meet its legislated requirements?
Top 2 Box (Net) 85%, Very Important 44%, Somewhat Important 41%
Bottom 2 Box (Net) 9%, Not Very Important 9%, Not Important at all *%
Don’t know 6%
4. Some governments do not require a fee to file general information requests to public bodies. The BC provincial government currently charges a $10 application fee for any general request. Should people be required to pay a fee to file a freedom of information request for information?
Yes 28%, No 57%, Don’t know 15%
5. Choose the statements that best reflect your knowledge of your access to information privacy rights.
I am aware of BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Aware 47%
I am aware of BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner
Aware 31%
I am aware that I can request access to my personal information and general information from public bodies
Aware 47%
I am aware of the right to file a complaint relating to the handling of my personal information
Aware 37%
These are the findings of an Ipsos online poll of 800 adult British Columbians conducted December 22-27, 2022 on behalf of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA). These data were statistically weighted by region, age, gender and education to ensure the sample composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to Census data. The precision of Ipsos polls containing online data is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the overall poll is accurate to within +/ -3.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all adult BC residents been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.