You have a right to access your medical records held by a hospital, clinic or care facility operated by the government, or in the electronic health record (EHR) system. Your right to access is limited when there is a legal reason that the information in the record should not be given to you.  You must […]

The purpose of your request is usually irrelevant; however, it may be necessary for you to prove your identity if you are requesting personal information.   A public body typically has a legal duty to assist individuals requesting information.   If your request doesn’t include enough detail, the organization should work with you to identify what you […]

In 2008, BC’s E-Health (Personal Health Information Access and Protection of Privacy) Act (e-Health Act) was enacted to support the development of the e-Health system.  Under the e-Health Act, the Minister can designate any health database in the public system as a health information bank (HIB) and require it to be filled with information from […]

There is usually no fee for you to request your personal information. In some cases, a fee may apply to general information requests, but you have the right to file a complaint about the fee or request the fee to be waived for justified reasons.   For example, under BC’s Personal Information Protection Act, private sector […]

The Manitoba Ombudsman, in reference to suggestions made by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, has developed a guidance sheet on how to respond to privacy breaches which will be relevant for any jurisdiction.   Summary of the key steps:  Containing the Breach  Change passwords + two-factor verification  Contact the office in […]

Once a request is submitted, the information holder usually has 30 days to respond to the request; however, it is common for the information holder to extend the response deadline by an additional 30 days. Information holders can extend the response deadline if it is approved by the Privacy Commissioner, if the requestor has not […]

You have the right to submit a complaint if you believe that either your request has not been properly fulfilled or you have been mistreated. If you live in BC, you can file a complaint through the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia for matters involving private sector organizations or provincial […]

When requesting your personal information from a public body, one of the first things you should do is verify that the public body has the personal information you seek. Accessing information, even if it is your own, can sometimes be a long drawn-out process so it is important to verify they have it before starting […]

In BC, the private sector and public sector are governed by separate freedom of information (FOI) and privacy legislation.   The Freedom of information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) regulates the FOI and privacy practices of organizations in the public sector. Public sector organizations (public bodies) covered by FIPPA include:  Ministries  The Office of the […]

Freedom of information (FOI) requests to BC public bodies can provide you information about either:   government activities or programs, or  personal information from government records about yourself or on behalf of someone else.  There is no limit to how much information you request, but the larger the size of the request, the more resources it […]

Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests can be used to access your personal information or government records from a federal public body. Federal public bodies have 30 days to respond to a formal ATIP request, but this time limit can be extended for up to another 30 days. The two reasons a request can […]

Public bodies, as per the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), may collect personal information only if it is expressly authorized under an Act, collected for the purposes of law enforcement, collected at a public event, or it is necessary to be collected.   Generally, public bodies can only use your personal information […]