The B.C. NDP government’s proposed Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (FIPPA) changes move the government “unnecessarily away from its purported goals of increased accountability and transparency,” a Vancouver technology lawyer says.
McMillan LLP technology partner Robert Piasentin called some of the changes “questionable.”
The FIPPA amendments include allowing British Columbians' data to be stored outside of Canada; implementing mandatory privacy-breach reporting; and introducing an application fee (possibly $25) for non-personal freedom of information (FOI) requests. The latter is used by Opposition politicians, businesses, lawyers and journalists to access government information not readily available.
The government has been under fire from the Opposition Liberals and from other critics, who say the proposed changes will add road blocks for those wanting to discover inner workings via the FOI program.
Minister of Citizen’s Services Lisa Beare unveiled the proposals on Oct.18, saying they would help people access services faster while strengthening privacy protections.
Provincial information and privacy commissioner Michael McEvoy has already raised concerns about getting rid of requirements to maintain data in Canada and about protecting government documents from destruction. He also expressed worry about the exclusion of the premier’s office from information requests.
And, Piasentin echoes those concerns in a Nov. 5 commentary.
He acknowledged the proposals in Bill 22 are intended to strengthen government accountability and transparency, enhance public sector privacy protections, and increase information sharing with Indigenous peoples while limiting disclosure that may harm them.
“However,” Piasentin said, “the proposed amendments raise some questions regarding transparency and data residency, and introduce potential uncertainty regarding the rules for public sector technology service providers.” The regulations which would accompany the law, if passed, are yet unknown.
"By leaving the details of how these issues will be governed to regulation, the British Columbia government is leaving service providers in a position of uncertainty as to what rules they may face when operating in the public sector,” he said.
However, he said, for those doing business with a public sector entity in British Columbia, the proposals will bring some long-anticipated changes to FIPPA by strengthening protections through new offences and stricter privacy management requirements.
"Such changes should work to give those businesses a higher degree of confidence with respect to how information will be managed and ease the burden, to some degree of conducting business with the public sector,” Piasentin said.
