BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
FIPA files complaint about BC government burying negative reports
The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association has requested that Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham conduct an investigation into a new BC government policy of not posting embarrassing reports.
In a letter to the Commissioner, BC FIPA cited the government’s refusal to post either the McNeil report into the mysterious Ministry of Health data breach firings, or the Mingay Report into excessive executive payment at Kwantlen University.
Download our letter here
The BC Government claims that it is prevented from posting these reports, or any personal information, on its websites because it would allegedly violate section 33.2 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which requires personal information not be stored or accessible outside Canada.
“It seems like the government is stretching to find a way to restrict the availability of these embarrassing reports,” said FIPA Executive Director Vincent Gogolek. “These parts of the Act were designed to keep the information contained in BC government data banks in Canada and away from the US Patriot Act, not to prevent reports from being posted.”
The BC government’s claims that it is prevented from posting this type of information can’t be found in the government’s own policy statements and manuals (which are available on the BC Government website).
“If the BC government is correct in its interpretation, then a lot of public bodies will be in violation of the law,” said Gogolek. “In fact, the Information and Privacy Commissioner herself has posted investigation reports that contain the same kind of personal information which the government claims is illegal.”
The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association has requested that Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham conduct an investigation into a new BC government policy of not posting embarrassing reports.
In a letter to the Commissioner, BC FIPA cited the government’s refusal to post either the McNeil report into the mysterious Ministry of Health data breach firings, or the Mingay Report into excessive executive payment at Kwantlen University.
Download our letter here
The BC Government claims that it is prevented from posting these reports, or any personal information, on its websites because it would allegedly violate section 33.2 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which requires personal information not be stored or accessible outside Canada.
“It seems like the government is stretching to find a way to restrict the availability of these embarrassing reports,” said FIPA Executive Director Vincent Gogolek. “These parts of the Act were designed to keep the information contained in BC government data banks in Canada and away from the US Patriot Act, not to prevent reports from being posted.”
The BC government’s claims that it is prevented from posting this type of information can’t be found in the government’s own policy statements and manuals (which are available on the BC Government website).
“If the BC government is correct in its interpretation, then a lot of public bodies will be in violation of the law,” said Gogolek. “In fact, the Information and Privacy Commissioner herself has posted investigation reports that contain the same kind of personal information which the government claims is illegal.”