Commissioner’s Blog | Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

Information and Privacy Commissioner Patricia Kosseim posing for a photo on a bridge, with trees in the background.

Commissioner’s Blog

Dive into Commissioner Kosseim’s insightful blogs covering privacy, access, cyber safety, and beyond. Stay informed and explore the latest insights.

About the Commissioner

Showing 64 - 72 of 242 results

How government’s response to COVID-19 ushered in new privacy protections

As I write this, people are trying to come to terms with a ‘new normal’ and adapting to the restrictions and fears that this health crisis has brought to our everyday lives. I think about our friends in the health and child protection sectors who continue to provide essential and often life-saving...

Published on Mar 31, 2020

Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario Statement on Toronto Police Service Use of Clearview AI Technology

The indiscriminate scraping of the internet to collect images of people’s faces for law enforcement purposes has significant privacy implications for all Ontarians. We have made it clear in the past that my office should be consulted before this type of technology is used. We were not aware that the...

Published on Feb 14, 2020

Privacy Day 2020 - Message from the Commissioner

Today is Privacy Day. It also marks my last Privacy Day as the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. As my term comes to an end, my thoughts turn to the accomplishments of the last five years and the challenges that lay before us. My first task on being appointed commissioner was to set a...

Published on Jan 28, 2020

New Year, New Access and Privacy Rights for Children, Youth and Families

New year, new rules. In Ontario, children, youth and families now have a legally protected right to request access and corrections to their personal information held by children’s aid societies and other service providers. They can also file privacy complaints with our office. These changes took...

Published on Jan 6, 2020

2019 Mandatory Statistics Reporting

As the new year approaches, so does the time to submit your statistics to the IPC. First, let me say that I appreciate the important work that institutions and health information custodians do to keep track and report statistics relating to requests under Ontario’s freedom of information and health...

Published on Dec 30, 2020

LifeLabs Privacy Breach – What You Need to Know

LifeLabs recently notified the public about a cyberattack involving unauthorized access to its computer systems. Here is what you need to know about this breach: Our office is working with the B.C. privacy commissioner to investigate the breach. We will be looking at what measures LifeLabs could...

Published on Dec 17, 2019

Putting Privacy First in Reviews of Sexual Violence Cases

Police leaders from across Canada have launched new best practices for responding to sexual violence. They include a made-in-Ontario approach to case review, one that draws on community expertise, while still protecting the privacy of complainants, witnesses and others. Last week, the Canadian...

Published on Dec 9, 2019

Report on Amnesty International Request for Investigation

The public’s right to access government information is an integral part of a high functioning, democratic, and accountable society. In Ontario, it is incumbent on government institutions to comply with our access laws, and it’s my job to look for any barriers to access that might arise, whether...

Published on Nov 14, 2019

Order MO-3827 – A Streetcar Named Disclosure

The conversation about the compelling public interest override is ongoing for those of us who administer provincial access laws. Supporting the public’s efforts to access government information is important. It’s also vital that institutions carefully examine the public interest override provision...

Published on Oct 30, 2019

Help us improve our website. Was this page helpful?

Yes

No

How did this page help you?

The information is incorrect or needs to be updated.

The information was too hard to understand.

The information wasn’t relevant.

I didn’t find what I was looking for.

Other

Note:

You will not receive a direct reply. For further enquiries, please contact us at @email
Do not include any personal information, such as your name, social insurance number (SIN), home or business address, any case or files numbers or any personal health information.
For more information about this tool, please see our Privacy Policy.