Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to LA FOIP, Chapter 6, Protection of Privacy. Updated 27 February 2023. 62 In Review Report LA-2013-003, the Commissioner found that some employees provided views and opinions outside of the employee’s duties and as such the carve-out at subsection 23(2)(b) of LA FOIP did not apply. For example, views or opinions that dealt with matters outside of the employee’s duties were sent from a personal email address, contained personal contact information and the views or opinions did not represent the official views of the employer. These types of views or opinions were found to be personal information. In Review Report 019-2014, the Commissioner found that information severed was not personal in nature and were the opinions and views of elected City of Saskatoon Councillors in the course of their official responsibilities and professional capacity. Other information severed were opinions and views of a contracted third party business related to a contract between the business and the City of Saskatoon. Again, the opinions and views were given in a professional capacity. The Commissioner recommended the information be released. In Investigation Report 034-2015, the Commissioner found that a complainant’s conversations recorded on a city bus qualified as the complainant’s personal information because the conversations included the complainant’s personal views and opinions. In Review Report 277-2016, the Commissioner found that an employee’s personal opinions made about a sporting event were the personal information of the employee’s pursuant to the equivalent provision in The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. It was a conversation between colleagues regarding a shared personal interest and did not relate to government business. In Review Report 258-2016, the Commissioner found that feedback employees provided to the employer that included descriptions of personal feelings and concerns outside of professional and official capacities was the personal information of the employees pursuant to the equivalent provision in The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. In Review Report 071-2017, 072-2017, and 073-2017, the Commissioner found that the information in some letters was the personal information of the authors of the letters pursuant to subsection 23(1)(f) of LA FOIP. This included their work history and descriptions of the impacts a workplace issue had upon them personally. In Review Report 139-2017, the Commissioner found that a witness statement contained mostly factual information about what a witness saw on the way to work the morning of a bomb threat. The Commissioner viewed the information as observation material and not opinions or views of a personal nature.
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