Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 3, Access to Records. Updated 5 May 2023. 17 Searching Records of Employees There are two separate issues that come into play when it comes to searching records held by employees. These issues mainly come into play with electronic records, but the same considerations apply for paper records: 1. Government records in personal accounts: Records may exist in an employee’s personal email account or record holdings because the employee conducted government-related business using a personal email account or from a remote location and the paper records are at the employee’s personal residence or other non-government location or device. These are not personal records of the employee (see Government Records in Personal Email Accounts below). 2. Personal records in government accounts: The access to information request involves the personal records (either electronic or paper) of the employee because of the nature of the request. Depending on the request, these may be the personal records of employees and privacy matters could come into play (see Personal Records in Government Accounts below). Government Records in Personal Email Accounts Email is an easy and accessible form of communication and a tool that we all use in our professional and personal lives. However, for government-related activities, personal email accounts should not be used. If a government employee uses a personal device and/or personal account (such as a personal email account) to conduct government related activities, the Commissioner has taken the position that such records are still subject to FOIP.25 In such situations, the government institution should be searching those email accounts or personal devices for responsive records in addition to regular records holdings. There are both access and privacy issues that arise when government-related activities are conducted using personal email accounts. FOIP provides individuals with the right to access records in the possession or under the control of a government institution, subject to limited 25 SK OIPC resource, Best Practices for Managing the Use of Personal Email Accounts, Text Messaging and Other Instant Messaging Tools, May 2018 at p. 4. Available at Best Practices for Managing the Use of Personal Email Accounts, Text Messaging and Other Instant Messaging Tools (oipc.sk.ca). Accessed December 29, 2022.
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