Personal Information – FOI Assist Knowledge Base

Informal Requests

Institutions have an obligation to provide records in response to FOI requests; however, this does not prevent institutions from providing records or information without using the official FOI process.

The Absurd Result Principle

It was a privilege to speak last week to all of the attendees of the Freedom of Information Police Network (FOIPN) Fall Conference at the Belleville Police Service Headquarters in Belleville, Ontario.

I was asked to deliver a presentation on the Absurd Result Principle, a legal principle with a long history in the Canadian and English legal systems.

Public Employees’ Right of Privacy

Just in time for some “light summer reading”, on June 21, 2022, the Ontario Court of Appeal issued an interesting decision that may have implications for how institutions conduct searches in response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Third-Party Personal Information

When processing an FOI request for access to personal information, can the institution use FIPPA s.21(1) / MFIPPA s.14(1) to exempt third party personal information from disclosure?

The short answer is “no”, but the slightly longer answer is, “not exactly”.

General Records Requests vs. Personal Information Requests

Today’s article is intended to provide an overview of the similarities and differences between general records requests and access to personal information requests.