Guide to FOIP-Chapter 6

Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 6, Protection of Privacy. Updated 27 February 2023. 246 • Evaluate the conditions under which the personal information was collected and consider what expectations the collecting institution may have established for its confidentiality, including whether the possibility of disclosure is conveyed in an applicable Privacy Notice Statement. • Consider the reasonable expectations of privacy that apply to the context in which the information was collected. To determine what constitutes a reasonable expectation of privacy, courts will look at the totality of circumstances. This could include location of collection (e.g., in a private conversation as compared to a public town hall), context of collection (e.g., in a routine application for services as compared to a letter sent to several government ministers), etc. (3) Probability and degree of injury • Consider the probability and degree or gravity of injury relative to the benefits of the disclosure to the public. This could include personal or physical injury, or damage to the reputation of an individual or others, which causes adverse consequences (e.g., any harm or embarrassment that negatively affects an individual's career, reputation, financial position, safety, health, or well-being). • Determine the potential of injury if the receiving party wrongfully disclosed the information further.697 Where the government institution intends to rely on this provision to disclose personal information, notification is required to the individual(s) pursuant to the third party notification requirements outlined at subsection 34(1)(b) of FOIP. For more on this process, see the Guide to FOIP, Chapter 5 – “Third Party Information”. Government institutions should still abide by the data minimization and need-to-know principles when disclosing personal information. Only disclose the least amount of personal information necessary to achieve the purpose. Further, only disclose to those that have a need-to-know the personal information to carry out the purpose. See Need-to-Know and Data Minimization earlier in this Chapter. 697 Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Public Interest Disclosures by federal institutions under the Privacy Act, revised June 2022. Available at Public interest disclosures by federal institutions under the Privacy Act - Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Accessed December 15, 2022.

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