On January 17, 2022 Justice Chaytor signed a Consent Order, jointly agreed to by the Town and the Commissioner, confirming that the Town of Happy Valley – Goose Bay is required to stop collecting, using, or disclosing personal information using body worn cameras under the Town’s 2020 body worn camera policy and program.
The Town of Happy Valley – Goose Bay is a public body subject to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 (ATIPPA, 2015). The Information and Privacy Commissioner is charged with overseeing compliance with that statute. When the Town publicly announced its plans to commence a body worn camera program, the Commissioner’s Office contacted the Town to learn more about it and to offer advice for consideration with respect to its program. After some communication with the Town about its body worn camera program, the Commissioner determined it was necessary to initiate an investigation. The matter could not be informally resolved and the Commissioner commenced a formal review which resulted in Report P-2021-002.
When Report P-2021-002 was issued, the Town filed a court application seeking a declaration that it need not follow the Commissioner’s recommendations. That matter has now been resolved through the issuance of the above-noted order of the court, which confirms the Commissioner’s ultimate intention of preventing the continuation of a body worn camera program that was not in compliance with ATIPPA, 2015.
Commissioner Harvey stated: “To our knowledge, the Town of Happy Valley – Goose Bay was the first public body in the Province to attempt to implement a body worn camera program. These programs have been the subject of significant attention from privacy advocates and Privacy Commissioners across Canada, and where they have been successfully launched it is usually because of a great deal of policy research and development, as well as substantial investment in the public body’s capacity to carry out such a program in a privacy-sensitive way. Our assessment is that the Town had been unable to design and implement a program that was compliant with the provisions of ATIPPA, 2015. Given that this is still very much a novel technology in this Province, if the Town or any other public body decides to implement such a program in the future, we fully intend to monitor it closely and take whatever steps we deem necessary to ensure the privacy interests of citizens of the Province will be protected.”
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) is a statutory Office of the House of Assembly. OIPC has a broad range of responsibilities and powers under both the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 (ATIPPA, 2015) and the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA). Oversight of these Acts includes investigating and attempting to resolve complaints about access to information and protection of privacy involving public bodies under ATIPPA, 2015 and custodians of personal health information under PHIA. The Commissioner may also make recommendations in order to uphold the Acts and support better compliance.
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Media contact
Sean Murray
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309