Under the Act, the appellant sought access to a statement made by a third party to the York Regional Police Services Board (the police) concerning an incident that led to charges against the third party for assault of the appellant. The police denied the appellant access to any part of the statement on the basis its disclosure would be an unjustified invasion of the personal privacy of the third party.
In this interim order, the adjudicator finds that the requested statement contains the personal information of the third party and of the appellant, so that the relevant personal privacy exemption is section 38(b) of the Act. Section 38(b) is a discretionary exemption that permits, but does not require, an institution to refuse to disclose to a requester her own personal information. The police instead applied the personal privacy exemption as if it were a mandatory exemption, based on a fundamental misapprehension of the nature of the record and of the appellant’s greater right of access under the Act to a record of her own personal information. In the circumstances, the adjudicator orders the police to issue a new access decision to the appellant, having regard to the principles set out in this interim order. She remains seized of the appeal to address issues arising from the police’s new access decision.