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Introduction |
The Government of
Newfoundland and Labrador proclaimed the access
provisions of the
Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPPA) on
January 17, 2005. The new Act replaces the Freedom
of Information Act. It applies to all public bodies (defined in the Act),
including government departments, agencies, health boards,
school boards and municipalities. The privacy provisions of the legislation
(Part IV) were proclaimed on January 16, 2008. This Act
does not apply to the private sector.
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The purpose of Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) is to make government more open and
accountable. It does so in a number of ways:
- Gives people the right to access
government held records
- Requires government to report annually
to the House of Assembly on the administration of the
ATIPPA
- Establishes an ATIPP
Office to oversee the administration and coordination of the
ATIPPA
- Establishes the Office of the
Information and Privacy Commissioner which will be an
independent review mechanism for people who believe they have
been unfairly denied access to information or have a complaint
about how a request was handled
- Requires a comprehensive review of the
ATIPPA every five years.
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are excluded and cannot be accessed through ATIPP. These
include House of Assembly records, ministers' constituency
records, court records, questions to be included on an
examination or test, certain teaching materials and research
information, and others. A list of excluded records is in
section 5 of the
ATIPPA. |
Access to records is subject to
limited and specific exceptions. These exceptions are designed to
protect information such as personal information, law
enforcement activities, third party business information,
intergovernmental relations, legal advice and cabinet
confidences; and to prevent unfair advantages in commercial or
government transactions. Exceptions may be applied, as well,
to records where disclosure may harm conservation or
individual or public safety. |
Protection of
Privacy
A key purpose of ATIPP is to protect the privacy of
individuals whose personal information is held by public
bodies. The protection of privacy provisions (Part IV) were
proclaimed on January 16, 2008. This very important part of the
ATIPPA
will govern how public bodies collect, use and disclose
personal information. Public bodies will be preparing for
enactment of the privacy provisions by assessing their
handling practices for personal information and designing and
implementing processes to effectively manage the
administration and protection of personal information in
accordance with the
ATIPPA.
The
ATIPPA
applies to public sector organizations.
Any other organization that collects, uses or discloses personal
information in the course of commercial activities is subject to
the federal
Personal Information Protection and Electronic
Documents Act (PIPEDA). For more information on this
legislation please visit the Office of Privacy Commissioner of
Canada website at
http://www.privcom.gc.ca, or contact
them by telephone at 1-800-282-1376.
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