Canadian Privacy Decisions

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) investigated Bell Canada after a complainant alleged Bell contravened PIPEDA by not responding to an access request within 30 days and denying access to cellphone logs. The OPC found Bell contravened PIPEDA by delaying its response to the access request and by denying the complainant access to his phone logs, which were determined to be his personal information. Bell also failed to be open about its policies regarding shared account information. Bell has agreed to provide the requested logs and implement recommendations to improve its procedures for handling shared account requests and its privacy communications.

• Timeliness of response to an access request
• Access to personal information held by a service provider on a shared account
• Definition of personal information in the context of phone logs
• Openness of an organization's privacy policies and practices

The complainant alleged that Library and Archives Canada (LAC) failed to respond to an access request within the 30-day timeframe. The request sought extensive information on Métis Nation land titles, treaties, and communications with Indigenous organizations. LAC determined the request was too broad and lacked specificity for their employees to identify records with reasonable effort, and thus did not meet the requirements of section 6 of the Access to Information Act. The Information Commissioner agreed that the request was too vague and did not require LAC to respond.

• Whether the access request provided sufficient detail to identify records with reasonable effort, as required by section 6 of the ATIA.
• Whether LAC made reasonable efforts to seek clarification from the complainant.
• Whether LAC was required to undertake extensive historical and legal research to identify responsive records.