Canadian privacy & access decisions

An institution sought the Information Commissioner's approval to decline to act on three access requests under subsection 6.1(1) of the Access to Information Act, arguing they were made in bad faith and constituted an abuse of the right of access. The requests sought all communications containing specific vulgar words over a three-year period. The institution claimed it had met its duty to assist the requester and that processing these requests would be unduly burdensome, requiring 4,068 employees to manually search for keywords and yielding thousands of non-relevant records, thereby hindering its ability to process other legitimate requests. The Commissioner found that the institution had fulfilled its duty to assist and that the requests, as framed, were an abuse of the right of access due to their breadth, the volume of requests submitted by the requester in a short timeframe, and the significant burden they would place on the institution, which would negatively impact other requesters. Consequently, the Commissioner granted the institution's application to decline to act on the requests.

• Whether the institution met its duty to assist the requester under s.4(2.1) ATIA
• Whether the access requests were an abuse of the right to make a request under s.6.1(1) ATIA
• Whether the requests were vexatious under s.6.1(1) ATIA
• Whether the requests were made in bad faith under s.6.1(1) ATIA

An institution applied to the Information Commissioner under subsection 6.1(1) of the Access to Information Act to decline to act on an access request, arguing it was vexatious and an abuse of the right to make a request. The request sought all emails, text messages, and digital files from three Human Resources employees from the start of their employment. The Commissioner found that the institution had fulfilled its duty to assist the requester by attempting to clarify the overly broad request and explaining the significant burden it would impose. Despite these efforts, the requester refused to narrow the scope, stating the broadness was intentional to uncover potential misconduct. The Commissioner concluded that the request constituted an abuse of the right of access due to its excessive breadth, the undue burden it placed on the institution, and its potential to impede the rights of other requesters. Consequently, the Commissioner granted the institution's application.

• Whether the access request was an abuse of the right to make a request under s.6.1(1) ATIA
• Whether the institution fulfilled its duty to assist obligations under s.4(2.1) ATIA
• Whether the access request was vexatious under s.6.1(1) ATIA