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InfoSource Bulletin 2003 - Privacy Act and Access to Information Act
1. Given its finding with respect to the Privacy Act issue, it was not necessary for the Court to make a finding with respect to the second issue raised by the applicant (i.e. whether the Board's decision was made in accordance with the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness).
2. Rule 28(1) provides that "Every application that is not provided for in these Rules shall be made by a party to the Refugee Division by motion, unless, where the application is made during a hearing, the members decide that, in the interests of justice, the application should be dealt with in some other manner." Rule 28(9) states that "The Refugee Division, on being satisfied that no injustice is likely to be caused, may dispose of a motion without a hearing.".
3. The relevant portions of the definition of "personal information" found in s. 3 PA are the following:
"personal information" means information about an identifiable individual that is recorded in any form including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, [...]
(e) the personal opinions or views of the individual except where they are about another individual or about a proposal for a grant, an award or a prize to be made to another individual by a government institution or a part of a government institution specified in the regulations, [...]
(g) the views or opinions of another individual about the individual, [...]
(i) the name of the individual where it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name itself would reveal information about the individual, [...]
4. Although the question of whether the software was under the control of CSC was not an issue before the FCA, the Court stated that not only was software not a record, but it was not a record "under the control of a government institution" as it was under the control of the external developer. As mere licensees, the appellants had not authority to copy or otherwise use the software outside of their licensing agreements (para. 63).
5. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada (2002 SCC 75) but on other issues.
6. The relevant portions of s. 3 of the Privacy Act are the following:
"personal information" means information about an identifiable individual that is recorded in any form including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing,
(b) information relating to the education or the medical, criminal or employment history of the individual [...];
but, for the purposes of sections 7, 8 and 26 and section 19 of the Access to Information Act, does not include:
(j) information about an individual who is or was an officer or employee of a government institution that relates to the position or functions of the individual including,
