Latest news with #OfficeoftheInformationandPrivacyCommissioner
Toronto Star
08-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Vancouver short-term rental data at stake in ongoing freedom of information dispute
VANCOUVER - Vancouver affordable housing advocate Rohana Rezel says he's keeping up a six-year freedom of information fight with the City of Vancouver and Airbnb over data on short-term rental operators despite it likely being out of date. Rezel filed two requests with the city under the Freedom of Information and the Protection of Privacy Act in 2019, seeking records about Airbnb and other short-term rental operators in Vancouver, including names, addresses and business licence numbers. The city refused and Airbnb opposed the release, leading to years of legal wrangling involving B.C.'s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, and the province's Supreme and Appeal Courts. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW An adjudicator with the privacy office ruled in 2021 that the city wasn't allowed to 'refuse access' to business licence numbers and addresses of short-term rentals, but Airbnb and the city went to court claiming the office was obligated to notify 20,000 short-term rental operators to give them a chance to weigh in on the dispute. An adjudicator's decision released Wednesday says the commissioner's office is not required to contact the thousands of owners, finding it 'would not be a fair, timely or efficient administration' of the act, and both the city and company could have raised the issue 'as early as possible but failed to do so.' Rezel says the information he's seeking is likely out of date now, but he plans to continue fighting for access, over the dispute that has evolved from access to housing data to a 'battle for public transparency' and corporate interests versus a citizen's right to access public information. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2025.
CBC
28-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Provincial department asked once again to seek help to handle information requests
Nova Scotia's acting information and privacy commissioner has recommended that a provincial department beef up resources to "fulfil its legal obligation" under the freedom of information act. In a report issued Tuesday, Carmen Stuart was critical of the Department of Opportunities and Social Development's handling of an access request filed on Oct. 3, 2024, which the department had not responded to beyond seeking an extension because of the "unusual size of the record." The department anticipates it will take until next year to process the more than 4,000 pages of records, Stuart noted in her report. On Nov. 29, 2024 the department was denied permission by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for an extension of 182 days to comply with the request. Stuart noted her office was unable to resolve the matter informally, which triggered her report. In it, she noted this was "the sixth report that the commissioner has made since August 2023 because the (department) has failed to respond to the applicant within the statutory deadline." "For this reason, the Commissioner is repeating the recommendation … that senior leadership at the (department) address this problem by ensuring it has sufficient resources to fulfil its legal obligation under FOIPOP." Tricia Ralph, the information and privacy commissioner at the time, made a similar recommendation on Oct. 23, 2024. "Within a month of the date of this review report, senior leadership at the public body address this problem by ensuring it has sufficient resources to fulfil its legal obligations under FOIPOP," wrote Ralph. "This includes hiring additional staff and exploring any other avenues that could be capitalized to complete this work." According to Stuart, the department rejected Ralph's recommendation. Spring legislation During the spring sitting of the legislature, the Houston government tabled legislation to amend the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to allow public bodies to refuse applications that are "trivial, frivolous or vexatious." The attempt drew a rebuke from Ralph in the last days of her tenure. The PC government backed off those changes and other controversial measures, including an attempt to gain the power to fire the province's auditor general without cause. That came following public outcry. The Justice Department launched a review of Nova Scotia's access to information legislation in September 2023 with an anticipated release of a report this spring. Justice Minister Becky Druhan recently acknowledged that work continues but could not say when it might be completed. Department responds The Department of Opportunities and Social Development "receives a large volume of personal and general FOIPOP applications," it said in a statement Friday afternoon. "Some requests span decades and involve thousands of pages of both hard copy and electronic records. Requests may also deal with sensitive personal information and require consultation with third parties. "As the report states, in this case, it is a 4,000+ page file. Work is underway, and we will issue a decision to the applicant once we have completed the line-by-line review and consultations. The department will continue to work to improve our response times and respond to requests as quickly as possible."
CBC
24-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
N.S. wants to deny 'vexatious' information requests. Critics say they are concerned
After once promising to give Nova Scotia's Information and Privacy Commissioner the power to enforce decisions, the Houston government has blindsided the office and its supporters by announcing major changes under a new omnibus bill. It has led some experts to question the province's commitment to access of information. The proposed amendment to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act will allow public bodies to refuse applications that are "trivial, frivolous or vexatious." Requests that are deemed repetitive, excessively broad or not made in good faith could also be denied. The move is to help enable a "more effective use of resources," says the Department of Justice, which oversees the act. The department says the province manages more than 400 active information requests each week. "We've heard loud and clear through our recent engagement that frivolous and vexatious requests are a significant burden for public bodies," department spokesperson Lynette MacLeod said in a statement. Even though the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner endorsed the idea of refusing frivolous, vexatious or otherwise abusive requests in a June 2017 report, it was with the caveat that authorization for such denials would come from the commissioner. The proposed legislation will instead give that authority to public bodies, including government departments. Following last week's announcement at a bill briefing, the commissioner was not prepared to comment. "We were not notified at all that change was coming," Tricia Ralph, Information and Privacy Commissioner for Nova Scotia, told CBC's Mainstree t. "It was disappointing for us that we were not consulted on this. We have a lot of expertise to give and so, yes, we learned at the same time as everyone else so we have to go through and do that analysis." Under the new legislation, public bodies would have 14 days to deny freedom of information requests. The applicant could then ask Ralph's office to review, which according to the proposed legislation would also need to be done within 14 days. In recent years, Ralph and her predecessors have been vocal about the extensive backlog of review files and a lack of resources to fulfil them in a timely manner. Turn of events The planned legislative changes are a far cry from commitments made by the Houston government in 2021, when the Minister of Justice was directed in a ministerial mandate letter to amend the Act to give "order-making ability to the Privacy Commissioner." Two years later, an internal working group began reviewing the access and privacy legislative framework in Nova Scotia. Houston made it clear in last fall's election campaign he had changed his mind since making the promise in his first term. Last week's announcement leaves Toby Mendel, executive director of the Centre for Law and Democracy based in Halifax, questioning the direction of access to information in Nova Scotia. "It's a really unfortunate sign, and I'm worried about it," he said. Mendel said he's concerned the Houston government's supermajority could lead to a "slightly dangerous level of power rolling back the Act." The Progressive Conservatives control more than two-thirds of the seats in the legislature after the party won 43 of 55 ridings in the Nov. 26 election. "I have to ask myself what's motivating them? When you already have that much power, you should be absolutely respectful of democratic checks and balances and not trying to hobble them or undermine them," said Mendel. He also questions the province's bar for "vexatious" requests. Vexatious means annoying and frustrating. The provincial government said approximately 16 per cent of freedom of information requests to its departments fell under that category since January 2024. "I simply don't believe that anywhere near 16 per cent could meet that standard," Mendel said. "My experience over 30 years is that the number is tiny." He said his organization accepts that vexatious requests should be rejected, but he wants to see "guardrails around its abuse because otherwise it's too discretionary." How other provinces compare If the legislative changes are passed in the coming weeks, Nova Scotia won't be the only province with rules against such requests. Newfoundland and Labrador passed a similar legislation in 2012 that gave decision-making powers to public bodies. The move ignited public outrage and was later changed to give the review office authority to deny such applications. Both New Brunswick and British Columbia also allow the commissioner to authorize public bodies to disregard a request. Alberta has followed that same model until recently, as legislative changes in that province are also underway. "The power to make the decision in the first instance to disregard an access request will shift from the Commissioner to the public body. The Commissioner will have the power to review the public body's decision," said spokesperson Elaine Schiman for the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta. In Nova Scotia, former NDP MLA Michèle Raymond said her initial reaction to the proposed changes was "grave disappointment." "I've been hoping for a very long time that Nova Scotia's pretty lame freedom of information legislation was going to be updated and made to actually work, and this really unfortunately doesn't do that," said Raymond.
CBC
12-02-2025
- CBC
Alberta privacy commissioner investigating PowerSchool data breaches
Alberta's privacy watchdog is investigating more than 30 data breaches from Alberta schools stemming from the PowerSchool cyberattack, the provincial government said in a news release Wednesday. PowerSchool, a cloud-based software platform used in K-12 education, was hit by a cyberattack in late December that accessed data held by some North American schools, including in Alberta. The company started issuing notices last month to individuals whose information was breached. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) has started reviewing the 31 breach notices it has received so far regarding unauthorized access to students' personal information. In some cases, teachers' personal information was also accessed. The office will work with affected schools to reduce the potential risk posed to those whose information was exposed, Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod said in the release. A "significant number" of Albertans were affected, including many students, McLeod said. Her office is examining notices as they come in, to figure out exactly how many people in Alberta were affected. Also this week, federal Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said his office has launched its own investigation into the cybersecurity breach at PowerSchool. McLeod, who works independently from government, is also working with her counterparts across Canada to address the breach, she added. PowerSchool learned of the data breach on Dec. 28, the company says on its website. It occurred through PowerSource, one of its "community-focused customer support portals," and accessed various forms of personal and medical information. One of the notices the OIPC received involved students' names, phone numbers, birth dates, genders, grades, school-issued email addresses, and student identification numbers. Health information that was accessed included medical conditions, allergies and medications, personal health numbers, physician contact information and guardian information, the news release said. The office has received information that suggests PowerSchool is offering credit monitoring and identity theft protection for people impacted by the breach, the release said, adding that people should contact PowerSchool for information about that. Anyone who received notices should direct their questions to the school that sent them the notice, the release said.
