In an Interpretation Bulletin issued last month, the Federal Privacy Commissioner provides guidance to organizations with respect to the rights of access to personal information held by organizations that individuals have. These rights are found in Principle 4 of the Schedule to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and in sections 8 and 9.
The Interpretation Bulletin contains links to, and a summary of, some of the more relevant cases dealing with the Court interpretations of the rights of access and a summary of decisions by the Commissioner in respect of the policies, practices and procedure that organizations have in respect of access, responding to access requests, including the form in which access should be given, the issue of which organization has control over personal information, time limits for responding to a request for access and the charging of fees. The Interpretation Bulletin also reviews the exceptions to access and circumstances in which access can be withheld and the rights that individuals have to request a correction to personal information.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.