Repeat offender: CSC unlawfully denies complainant access to his personal information a second time
A federal inmate complained that Correctional Service Canada (CSC) repeatedly denied him access to his personal information, specifically video and audio recordings, in contravention of the Privacy Act. This complaint followed a similar investigation in 2012 where the OPC found serious deficiencies in CSC's handling of the complainant's requests, including failure to retain video recordings before destruction. In the current investigation, the OPC found that CSC again failed to retrieve and retain requested video recordings within their short retention period in two cases, and failed to respond to four other requests for grievance-related records. The OPC concluded that CSC contravened subsection 12(1) of the Privacy Act by denying the complainant access to his personal information. CSC accepted the OPC's recommendations to improve its processes for handling access requests for records with short retention periods and to respond to outstanding requests.
- 1Whether CSC contravened subsection 6(1) of the Privacy Act by failing to retain personal information for a prescribed period
- 2Whether CSC contravened subsection 12(1) of the Privacy Act by failing to provide access to personal information
- 3Whether CSC contravened subsection 16(3) of the Privacy Act by failing to respond to access requests within statutory time limits
- 4Whether CSC appropriately applied paragraph 22(1)(c) of the Privacy Act to withhold video recordings
- 5Whether CSC appropriately applied section 26 of the Privacy Act to withhold video recordings
- 6Whether CSC made reasonable efforts to secure video recordings before destruction as per previous OPC recommendations
- 7Whether CSC's processes for handling access requests for records with short retention periods are adequate
- Access to video recordings: Contravention of Privacy Act s.12(1)
- Access to audio recordings: Contravention of Privacy Act s.12(1)
- Access to grievance records: Contravention of Privacy Act s.12(1)
- Handling of short-retention records: Recommendations accepted by institution
- Response to outstanding requests: Recommendations accepted by institution
Complaint well-founded and conditionally resolved
The OPC found that CSC failed to retrieve and retain requested video recordings before they were overwritten, and failed to respond to other access requests, thereby denying the complainant his right of access under subsection 12(1) of the Privacy Act. CSC committed to implementing the OPC's recommendations.
The OPC recommended that CSC develop appropriate processes to action personal information requests to ensure compliance with the Act, particularly for records with short retention periods, and provide complete responses to the complainant's four outstanding requests as soon as possible.
- subsection 6(1) Privacy Act
- subsection 12(1) Privacy Act
- subsection 16(3) Privacy Act
- paragraph 22(1)(c) Privacy Act
- section 26 Privacy Act
- subsection 4(1) Privacy Regulations
This summary is informational only and not legal advice.
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