How to make a privacy inquiry

Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), an individual has the right to review, challenge or correct any personal information about him/her that an organization may have on file or disclosed to other parties.

If you wish to review or correct personal information on file at Coughlin, submit your request in writing to:

Please review Coughlin's privacy inquiry process before you make a privacy inquiry.

Coughlin's privacy inquiry process

If a privacy inquiry or grievance is received, the following steps will be taken.

1. Formalization of the issue or request

To ensure that both you and Coughlin have a common understanding and record of the problem, all requests or complaints should be formalized in writing. The privacy officer will confirm the details of the inquiry or complaint. A form outlining the details of the case will be completed with a copy provided to you, the manager of the relevant department named in the complaint and any named Coughlin employee.

2. Confirmation of details and copies

Details such as time of the incident, background leading to the complaint, actions taken or not taken, will be noted in writing. As well, Coughlin will confirm with the individual whether any third party, such as an employer, union representative, legal counsel or other party should be copied on any correspondence related to the complaint.

3. Confirmation of your identity

Since the request will likely involve your personal files, the privacy officer will need to confirm your identity. He/she may ask you to provide supporting identification, such as your driver's licence, employee number etc.

Requests from an authorized third party, such as your legal counsel, union representative or trustee, should contain the confirming identity of that third party along with a contact name.

4. Determination of information to be made available

The privacy officer will need to determine what information is to be reviewed and where that information may be located.

Requests must be specific. Avoid vague references such as "all information" or "everything you've got." To help us conform to the request and retrieve the necessary data, please clearly specify nature of your request or problem.

5. Protection others' privacy

PIPEDA also protects the rights of other individuals or parties that may be affected by your request. Before any information is revealed, data relating to other individuals, including spouses and dependants, will be removed from the file. Under no circumstances will information on another person be revealed without their express, written consent.

6. Does a legal exemption exist?

PIPEDA guarantees do not apply in the following circumstances:

• when an individual is involved in a legal or criminal investigation involving provincial, federal or foreign law enforcement;
• when an individual has violated a contract;
• national security;
• when revealing personal information would compromise solicitor-client privilege;
• when revealing information would violate commercial proprietary rights (such as hourly labour rates, copyright, trademark, bond ratings etc.);
• if revelation of private information would violate another individual's privacy rights or threaten their life or security;
• archival information;
• 20 years after an individual's death or 100 years after a record was created;
• statistical or scholarly research; or
• information that is already publicly available.

7. The cost to you

According to PIPEDA, Coughlin may charge a fee to recover the costs involved in researching data and responding to a privacy request. This may be based on an hourly rate or a fixed fee.

8. The timeline to meet your request

According to PIPEDA, all requests should be addressed within 30 days. Since complex or older files may not be readily accessible, PIPEDA states that, if needed, we may apply for an additional 30-day exemption to comply with a request to review or correct a file or address a privacy complaint.

9. Release or correction of data

Once information has been released, you may ask that it be corrected. Since this may not always be possible (for example, in the cases involving medical diagnoses or conditions, a Coughlin employee would not be able to correct the assessment of a licensed medical professional), a note may be added to your file indicating your disagreement with the data.

10. Resolution

Once information has been released, a confirmation of any correction(s) made will be documented and dated.

If resolution is not possible, the point of disagreement will be logged and listed in the file.

If no resolution can be found, you have the right to relay your concerns the Privacy Commission of Canada at:

The Privacy Commission of Canada
112 Kent Street
Ottawa, ON   K1A 1H3