An Adjudicator determined that the OIPC did not lose jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry under section 69(6) of the FOIP Act. The Adjudicator did not have jurisdiction over the initial request, and found that the Edmonton Police Service failed to meet its duty to assist concerning the second request.
 
http://foip.alberta.ca/commissioners_decisions/orders/summary/2008/2008-003summary.cfm

The OIPC confirmed that it did not lose jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry under section 69(6) of the FOIP Act and ordered the Edmonton Police Service to release information improperly withheld under sections 17 and 24(1)(b), related to an internal affairs investigation file.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/downloads/documentloader.ashx?id=2289

The OIPC found that the City of Edmonton did not provide adequate evidence to demonstrate that it performed an adequate search for records. The Adjudicator also determined that the FOIP Act did not require the city to answer the Applicant’s questions regarding the responsive records.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/ims/client/upload/Order%20F2008-006%20(F3956).pdf

The OIPC confirmed that it did not lose jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry under section 69(6) of the FOIP Act and found that the Edmonton Police Service properly applied section 12(2) in refusing to confirm or deny the existence of a wiretap.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/ims/client/upload/Order-F2008-005%20(F3998).pdf

The OIPC found that disclosure of Edmonton Police Services' Red Light Camera Client Training Manual would not harm third party business interests and ordered EPS to disclose the manual to the Applicant.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/Content_Files/Files/Orders/Order_F2008-018_(F3801).pdf

The OIPC determined that information withheld as advice, under section 24(1), was a substantive rule or statement of policy related to the City of Calgary's taxation powers, under section 24(2)(g). The City was ordered to release a valuation report about the Calgary Airport in its entirety.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/Content_Files/Files/Orders/Order_F2008_011_(F3928-3929).pdf

The OIPC confirmed that it did not lose jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry under section 69(6) of the FOIP Act. The Adjudicator also found that the EPS had not properly withheld some information related to a complaint against the Applicant (a Justice of the Peace), and ordered the EPS to release information.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/ims/client/upload/Order%20F2008-016%20(F4070).pdf

The OIPC upheld the Calgary Board of Education’s decision to withhold some personal information related to the Applicant’s daughter, including the daughter’s cumulative file, but ordered the release of additional records and information originally withheld as non-responsive.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/ims/client/upload/Order%20F2008-004.pdf

The OIPC found that the Lethbridge Regional Police Commission did not meet its duty to assist the Applicant when it did not respond to the Applicant’s follow-up letter to his access request. The Adjudicator ordered the Commission to inform the Applicant about who conducted the search for responsive records, the scope of the search, the steps taken to identify and locate all records and possible repositories of them, and why it believed that no more responsive records exist than what has been found or produced.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/ims/client/upload/Order_F2009_001.pdf

An Adjudicator determined that an internal investigation report by the Edmonton Police Service should be released, subject to the removal of certain personal information from the report. The Adjudicator also ruled that a video associated with the internal investigation was properly withheld as third party personal information.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/downloads/documentloader.ashx?id=2425

The OIPC determined that an employee’s health information was improperly accessed through Netcare (the electronic health record) for employment purposes, rather than for the provision of health services. The Portfolio Officer found that the Health Information Act (HIA) did not authorize the disclosure and that Netcare should not be used for employment management purposes.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/downloads/documentloader.ashx?id=2373

An Adjudicator determined that the school district did not have custody of a complaint letter that was received by a school secretary and passed on, unopened, to the teachers’ union.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/downloads/documentloader.ashx?id=2388

An Adjudicator found that the University of Alberta failed to demonstrate that it had conducted an adequate search for records and ordered the university to conduct a more extensive search, including computer back-up files.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/downloads/documentloader.ashx?id=2393

An Applicant requested a copy of the Professionalism Committee Final Report from the Edmonton Police Service. The EPS withheld the report on the basis of section 24 (advice). During the course of the inquiry, the EPS decided it would no longer rely on section 24 and released most of the report. However, some information was severed under section 21 (disclosure harmful to intergovernmental relations). The Adjudicator found that section 21 did not apply, and ordered the entire report released to the Applicant.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/downloads/documentloader.ashx?id=2434

An Applicant asked the Edmonton Police Service for copies of records related to an ethics committee review. An Adjudicator confirmed the decision of the EPS to withhold certain personal information, but found that section 21 did not apply to other parts of the record and some of the information was not properly withheld under section 24.
 
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/downloads/documentloader.ashx?id=2435

On February 10, 2009, the Commissioner hosted a half-day seminar regarding proper application of the solicitor-client privilege to records. A paper, based on the presentation, is available on the OIPC website.
 
See http://www.oipc.ab.ca/Content_Files/Files/News/Basics_of_Solicitor_Client_Privilege.pdf

This investigation report under the Health Information Act (HIA) is an important reminder to public bodies subject to the FOIP Act as well - only courts with jurisdiction in Alberta or Canada can compel the release of records.
 
See http://www.oipc.ab.ca/Content_Files/Files/News/NR_H2009_IR_002.pdf

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner recently sponsored a contest open to high school and post-secondary students entitled Look @ Me! – The Privacy Project. The purpose of the contest was to find out what young people in Alberta think about the protection of their personal information.
 
To view the winning entries, see http://www.oipc.ab.ca/pages/NewsReleases/default.aspx?id=1544

March was Fraud Prevention Month. As part of the month’s events, the OIPC, and the Alberta Fraud Prevention Coalition, produced a useful tool to help individuals determine their risk of becoming a victim of identity theft.
 
To view the winning entries, see http://www.oipc.ab.ca/Content_Files/Files/Docs/IdentityChecklist.pdf

The federal, Quebec, BC and Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner offices have produced a joint fact sheet entitled Captured on Camera – Street-level imaging technology, the Internet and you. This fact sheet examines some of the privacy concerns in the deployment of services like Google’s Street View.
 
See http://www.oipc.ab.ca/downloads/documentloader.ashx?id=2367

October 15 and 16, 2009 - Hyatt Regency Hotel, Vancouver, BC
 

• The theme of the 4th annual PIPA conference is Solving the Privacy Puzzle. The focus for this year’s conference is on practical, real-world problems and solutions. This forum offers an excellent opportunity to hear from privacy regulators, stakeholders, and from business experts around the globe about managing personal information in the electronic age. For more information, visit http://www.verney.ca/pipa2009/.

November 2, 2009 – Calgary, Alberta
 

• Hosted by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Saskatchewan, and the Manitoba Ombudsman, this event focuses on present and future health information privacy challenges. Stay tuned for more information, to be posted at http://www.ombudsman.mb.ca/access.htm.