Ron Kruzeniski says privacy and access to information laws were created when a paper trail — rather than a digital one — was the norm.
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According to the title of the annual report from the province’s information and privacy commissioner, Change is in the Air — but more change is needed to bring Saskatchewan’s access and privacy legislation up to par.
The report — Ron Kruzeniski’s seventh since he took up the post of information and privacy commissioner (IPC) — was tabled with the Legislative Assembly on Monday. It notes The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) and The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (LA FOIP) were implemented in 1992 and 1993 respectively, back when paper records were the norm. Technology and digital information has since become the mode in which information is processed and made available.
“A vast amount of information about each of us is housed in databases, many of which are accessible by the internet,” Kruzeniski said in the report. “We look up information, we order things, and we pay bills and communicate with one another through the utilization of these databases and the internet. It is time that we modernize our access and privacy legislation to take this into account.”
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The report notes a number of legislative changes taking place regarding access and privacy across the country.
Kruzeniski noted 2020-21 was supposed to be the first in a three-year plan, but due to the pandemic, it instead became an extra year for the previous plan which had focused on working within a largely — and increasingly — digital world.
“The need and desire to modernize access and privacy legislation is occurring all across Canada,” he wrote. “People have recognized that there is a need to update and recognize the new reality.”
For the report, the Ministry of Justice stated the province is “monitoring the changes and discussions taking place across Canada as numerous jurisdictions review and update their access and privacy legislation.” The province is to continue building on amendments made to FOIP and LA FOIP, it said.
The ministry also spoke to changes to The Privacy Act intended to deal with revenge porn and internet-based sexual abuse to facilitate online removal. Work is also continuing to create a transparent framework involving the linking of personal or health information in “data matching projects” involving government institutions or other organizations where consent hasn’t been provided.
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The report notes the number of files opened declined in 2020-21, dropping to 277 from 396 the year before. The IPC cites COVID-19 as a factor. Of files opened, the majority (56 per cent) were those asking the office to review a decision of a head to deny access.
More files were closed in 2020-21 at 339, significantly above the previous year’s 279 and the highest number over the past five years. Half of the files (49 per cent) resulted in a report, with others leading to other types of resolution. The number of reports issued increased despite staff working from home.
Of the 98 reports issued, 48 per cent of respondents fully complied. No compliance was noted in six per cent of cases.
Response times have been a focus of the IPC, but an increase in files requiring review, investigations and other measures resulted in an increase in this regard.
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More change needed says Sask. privacy commissioner - Regina Leader-Post
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