Purposes
The purposes of Newfoundland and Labrador’s ATIPPA are to make public bodies more open and accountable and to protect individual privacy by:
- giving the public a right of access to records;
- giving individuals a right of access to their own personal information and a right to request correction of that information;
- specifying limited exceptions to the right of access;
- preventing the unauthorized collection, use and disclosure of personal information by public bodies;
- providing for independent review by an Officer of the House of Assembly of a decision, act or failure to act on the part of a public body.
Under the access provisions, individuals or organizations (called applicants), who wish to obtain access to records in the control or custody of a public body may do so by completing the appropriate form and forwarding it to the public body having custody or control of the information being sought. This application form is available from any public body or from the provincial Department of Justice ATIPP website at Department of Justice ATIPP website. This site also contains other pertinent information including a list of all public bodies and the name and contact information of their respective access and privacy coordinators, who can field inquiries and receive access to information requests.
With respect to the privacy provisions, the legislation limits the extent and means by which public bodies can collect personal information, as well as the extent to which public bodies can use and disclose that information.