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. 58 employees about individuals other than the applicant was the personal information of those individuals pursuant to subsection 23(1)(h) of LA FOIP. In Review Report LA-2014-002, the then Saskatoon Regional Health Authority (SRHA) severed portions of a letter that described the actions of two employees and why. The Commissioner found that the actions described were in the work context and did not constitute personal information. However, the ‘why’ was an expressed personal opinion or view about an individual and constituted the personal information that the opinion or view was about. Further, another portion severed was about an employee’s performance and opinions or views about the employee. The Commissioner found the opinions or views of the employee were the employee’s personal information. In Review Report 239-2016, the Commissioner found that opinions and views made about the applicant by fellow employees was the personal information of the applicant. In Review Report 071-2017, 072-2017, and 073-2017, the Commissioner found that staff members’ opinions about the applicant were the personal information of the applicant pursuant to subsection 23(1)(h) of LA FOIP. Subsection 24(1)(i) Interpretation 24(1) Subject to subsections (1.1) and (2), “personal information” means personal information about an identifiable individual that is recorded in any form, and includes: … (i) information that was obtained on a tax return or gathered for the purpose of collecting a tax; The purpose of this provision is to identify as personal information that information which a government institution obtains from a taxpayer (on the taxpayer’s return) or otherwise gathers relating to the taxpayer for the purpose of collecting a tax.161 161 Similar interpretation taken by BC IPC and Office of the Newfoundland and Labrador Information and Privacy Commissioner (NFLD IPC). See BC IPC Order F05-29 at [92] and NFLD IPC Review Report A2017-002 at [28].

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