Ministry 2002/03 Annual Service Plan Report -- Ministry of Management Services

Performance Reporting — Continued

Goal 4: Public has confidence in the way government and regulated bodies manage the information they hold

To improve privacy protection, increase openness and accountability, and reduce overall compliance costs, amendments were made to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP Act).

In the Spring of 2002, changes were made to allow the Information and Privacy Commissioner more flexibility in meeting operational responsibilities; to clarify the definitions of "personal information" and "days"; to provide the ability to disregard frivolous and vexatious requests; as well as other amendments.

In the Spring of 2003, additional amendments were made to the FOIPP Act to improve privacy protection by extending the privacy provisions of the legislation to include records that may not be in a public body's custody, but are under its control; to clarify the requirements regarding notification for the indirect collection of personal information; and to ensure the protection of solicitor-client privilege for records provided to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

In response to privacy concerns and to support e-commerce within British Columbia, as well as internationally, significant progress has been made in preparing Personal Information Protection legislation. This legislation will protect British Columbian's personal information held by the private sector.

Objectives:

Information is managed in a transparent, accountable and secure manner.

Core Business Area:

Corporate and Information Programs

Strategies:

Review and amend the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP Act)
Develop privacy legislation for the private sector
Improve information management

Performance Measure	2002/03 Target	2002/03 Actual
Percentage of stakeholders who are satisfied with the FOIPP process	Establish baseline	Not measured

This measure was not applied in 2002/03 due to the fact that the determination of satisfaction was influenced by factors outside the control of the Ministry. Each Ministry receives and processes FOI requests directly. As a result, processes may vary from Ministry to Ministry and consequently any measures and determination of satisfaction would also vary. The performance measure has been redefined for 2003/04.