The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

1. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Presentation for Elected Officials September 2007

2. Who is covered? • Government departments, agencies, boards and commissions – Oct 1995 • School boards & charter schools – Sept 1998 • Regional Health Authorities - Oct 1998 • Universities, colleges, technical institutions – Jan 1999

3. Who is covered? • Local governments – Oct 1999 • municipalities • municipal boards, committees, and commissions • police services and commissions • public libraries • Metis settlements • drainage & irrigation districts • housing management bodies

4. 5 key principles • Rights of access to records • Protect individual privacy • Access to own personal information • Correction of personal information • Independent review by Information and Privacy Commissioner

5. Council obligations • Bylaw to designate a “head” under FOIP Act – normally CAO – and adopt a fee schedule • Protect privacy of personal information • Protect confidential information of business

6. Our municipality • The ______________ is the Head • Our fee schedule is (we have adopted the fee schedule in the FOIP regulation) • Our FOIP Coordinator/Contact is _______ • We have trained... • We have (not) received __ FOIP requests

7. Access to records • Release unless an “exception” in the Act allows or requires information to be withheld • Plan to make records available to the public on a regular basis (e.g., agenda, minutes, reports), use publications and web sites to distribute information • Access under the FOIP Act should be the last resort

8. Personal and constituency records • Section 4(1)(m) excludes “a personal record or constituency record of an elected member of a local public body” • These are records that are unrelated to the council member’s role with the municipality, such as private correspondence, records relating to the election campaign of a council member, private business records

9. Creating records • Write notes as if they could be published in tomorrow’s newspaper • Manage records • E-mails are records • Plan for routine disclosure • Assume expense claims will be released

10. Privacy Survey Results • 98% of Albertans surveyed expressed strong agreement with the importance of protecting individual privacy • 82% expressed concerns about their own privacy • 83% agreed that their privacy concerns are greater than they were 5 years ago. OIPC Stakeholder Survey, 2003

11. Privacy pitfalls • Personal information in council documents • In-camera meeting procedures • Dealing with the media • Casual disclosures • Misuse of personal information