What right does that person have to snoop into the cause of death of
someone who died 60 years ago, a reader asked in response to a recent
column.
That column dealt with a reader who was trying to find the cause of
death of someone who died in 1932. She wanted to know if the details
are available from Vital Statistics and if the police file might be
open to the public. The deceased apparently had no immediate family.
Read Also
Well-being improvement can pay off for farms
Investing in wellness programs in a tight labour market can help farms recruit and retain employees
Let the man rest in peace, the caller told me.
Balancing the public right to know versus a person’s right to privacy
is a complex issue. Our
society operates on the concept of open government.
In the example above, we might want to know whether the police made an
error in their investigation. Was the man accidentally shot by the
police and that fact never made public? Was a government department
covering up an error by prematurely releasing a man infected with
tuberculosis from a sanatorium?
As taxpayers, we have a right to know whether our public institutions
are functioning as they should be. Alternatively, is there anything
wrong in wanting information to satisfy personal curiosity?
Most governments have now passed laws confirming the public’s right to
know and at the same time attempting to protect private information.
For example, Saskatchewan’s Freedom of Information and Protection of
Privacy Act provides that “every person has a right to and … shall be
permitted access to records that are in the possession or under control
of a government institution.”
The act also said no government institution can collect personal
information unless it is for a purpose that relates to an existing or
proposed government program. It further provides that no government
institution shall disclose personal information in its possession. An
information and privacy commissioner is appointed to review situations
where a request for information has been denied and to handle
complaints about government breach of privacy. That office can be
reached at 700-1914 Hamilton St., Regina, S4P 3N6 or 306-787-8350.
Alberta has an excellent website dealing with freedom of information.
Go to www.gov.ab.ca/foip. In Manitoba, contact the Ombudsman office.
At the federal level there are several relevant laws. First, there is
the Access to Information Act. As with provincial counterparts, its aim
is to make government information publicly available. The office of the
information commissioner handles complaints from people denied access
to information. That office can be reached at 800-267-0441.
Second, there is the Privacy Act. Its purpose is to protect the
privacy of personal information collected by federal government
institutions and provide individuals with access to that information.
This means you can ask to see any file a government department has
collected on you. The privacy commissioner, currently George
Radwanski, deals with
complaints of breach of privacy by the federal government.
The commissioner deals with both individual complaints and broader
policy issues. For example, last fall he ruled that police video
surveillance in downtown Kelowna, B.C., violated the Privacy Act.
“If we cannot walk or drive down a street without being systematically
monitored by the cameras of the state, our lives and our society will
be irretrievably altered,” Radwanski wrote.
The commissioner’s office can be reached at 800-282-1376. Full details
on the work of the commissioner can be found at www.
privcom.gc.ca.
Next week: privacy and information gathered by private firms.
Don Purich is a former practising lawyer who is now involved in
publishing, teaching and writing about legal issues. His columns are
intended as general advice only. Individuals are encouraged to seek
other opinions and/or personal counsel when dealing with legal matters.
