The issues of privacy and the open court principle are sometimes in conflict, especially when sensitive personal information becomes a matter of record in the decisions of courts or quasi-judicial bodies and, as many of these decision often do, ends up on the internet for all time.
The Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB) has tackled this issue by way of its Policy on Openness and Privacy. The Policy is an acknowledgement that, "in some instances mentioning an individual's personal information during a hearing or in a written decision may affect that person's life. Privacy concerns arise most frequently when some identifying aspects of a person's life become public. These include information about an individual's home address, personal email address, personal phone number, date of birth, financial details, SIN, driver's licence number, or credit card or passport details." The PSLRB attempts to include this type of information in a decision only when it is relevant and necessary for the determination of the dispute under adjudication.
In addition, since PSLRB decisions are available on its website, it uses the web robot exclusion protocol a protocol recognized by Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo. The use of this protocol means that an Internet search of a person's name will not yield any information from the full-text versions of decisions posted bu the PSLRB on its website.
The Policy of the PSLRB accords with a statement on the use of personal information in decisions and the posting of decisions on websites the Heads of Federal Administrative Tribunals Forum (endorsed by the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals) and the principles found in the Protocol for the Use of Personal Information in Judgments approved by the Canadian Judicial Council.
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