Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 6, Protection of Privacy. Updated 27 February 2023. 64 aware. Even though the record only contains a list of names with no context in terms of what the names on the list pertain to, there is already information available publicly that could be linked to these names which could reveal the individuals were arrested. The fact that someone has been arrested qualifies as their personal information (criminal history – subsection 24(1)(b) of FOIP). In this context, the name alone on the record would reveal personal information (i.e., the name can be linked to already available information). The names of employees of a government institution and their respective work telephone numbers are not personal information under FOIP.182 Subsection 24(1)(k)(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: … (k) the name of the individual where: (i) it appears with other personal information that relates to the individual; A name alone is not personal information unless release of the name itself would reveal personal information about the individual.183 An individual’s name may appear with other personal information in a record. The inclusion of a name in a record often makes the other personal information in the record about an “identifiable individual”. Where possible, government institutions should consider severing the name and releasing the other information as removal of the name makes the other information de-identified, in most cases. Alternatively, release the name and sever the other personal information. This is consistent with section 8 of FOIP which provides: 182 SK OIPC Review Reports F-2005-001 at [29], F-2008-001 at [87]. 183 See subsection 24(1)(k)(ii) of FOIP. First cited in SK OIPC Review Report 2003-014 at [26]. Later referenced in SK OIPC Review Report F-2005-001 at [13]. See also SK OIPC Review Reports F-2012-006 at [147], F-2014-005 at [10], 195-2015 and 196-2015 at [17] and 112-2018 at [46]. See also General Motors Acceptance Corp. of Canada v. Saskatchewan Government Insurance, 1993 CanLII 9128 (SK CA) at [14] and Griffiths v. Nova Scotia (Education), 2007 NSSC 178 (CanLII) at [24].
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