Commissioner’s Blog

The Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) will host a special event in Hamilton on Friday, May 11, at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Centre, West 5th Campus. This event is part of the IPC’s Reaching Out to Ontario program. Commissioner Brian Beamish, along with executives from the IPC, will upd...

We’ve got stats on the brain here at the IPC. Institutions from across the province have submitted to us their annual reports summarizing stats on the freedom of information (FOI) requests they received last year. Thanks to everyone who got these to us on time. While it might be tempting to get...

Ontario’s public institutions and health information custodians are required to take reasonable steps to safeguard personal information from the time of collection to the point of destruction. This means that personal information that is stored on digital media or devices must be securely destr...

A particularly rough influenza season this year has contributed to a healthy interest in statistical information related to flu outbreaks. The public wants to know how serious the flu-threat is in their community, a risk often measured by the number of local flu-related deaths. Recently, our offi...

On February 7, 2018, Hamilton’s Council General Issues Committee passed a motion that staff work with Hamilton Police Services to review the current CCTV by-law as it applies to private homes and to assess the feasibility of amending it to permit the collection of personal information from publ...

The government is making significant changes to services for children and youth with the introduction of the new Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA). As I mentioned in my year-end blog, the CYFSA will enshrine in law the rights of children, youth, and their families to access and correct...

On January 28, officially recognized as Data Privacy Day, organizations around the world work to highlight the importance of protecting privacy and personal information. For me and everyone at the IPC, Privacy Day is a chance to remind the public of their rights, raise awareness among public inst...

Every month, the IPC makes decisions on access to information appeals and privacy complaints. Here is a sampling of four recent decisions: PO-3801 – A request was made to the Independent Electricity System Operator for financial information in a refurbishment agreement relating to the Bruce Pow...

As 2017 draws to a close, I would like to take a moment to update you on an incredibly busy and productive year at the IPC, one in which my office worked hard to deliver on its mandate on behalf of all Ontarians. Our Year in Numbers A quick look at the IPC’s year in numbers and you can see jus...

Today my office made a submission to the Standing Committee on General Government to provide comments and concerns about Bill 160, The Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act, 2017. Bill 160 introduces three new pieces of health care legislation and amends an additional seven. T...