Younger’s privacy complaints have some merit: Privacy lawyer

HALIFAX – Dartmouth-East MLA Andrew Younger’s complaints regarding the release of his health information have some merit, according to one privacy lawyer.

Younger filed formal complaints with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the privacy officer with the Department of Health after the Premier’s former chief of staff revealed Younger had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The first complaint, deals with the Freedom of Information Protection Privacy Act, which regulates what the provincial government and its employees can collect in terms of information as well as which circumstances which it can be disclosed.

Privacy lawyer David Fraser said this part of the complaint could move forward, but in order for there to be a stiff penalty, Younger would have to prove the release had malicious intent.

“It will be interesting to find out whether or not that requirement, that threshold will be crossed,” Fraser said.

Unless something is done maliciously Fraser says, the result is usually a report from the Privacy Commissioner that recommends how to change your practices.

“Mr. Younger is alleging it was done maliciously, which does bring in the possibility of a penalty, which would be fines or things like that,” adding jail time would be possible for unpaid fines.

The second complaint deals with the Personal Health Information Act, which Fraser said is fairly new and regulates specifically how Health Information Custodians can collect, use and disclose health information.

Fraser said at this glance this one doesn’t stand a chance because the Premier’s Office is not a Health Information Custodian.

“Information was collected in the course of a conversation not in the course of providing medical care, so it certainly seems outside of the purposes of the Personal Health Information Act.”

When it comes to recorded conversations, a topic which has come up in the Younger saga, Fraser said as long as one person has knowledge of the recording in this case, it’s not against the law.

Fraser said Younger is within his rights to record conversations, but, “many people find that offensive…and would want to be notified if their conversation was being recorded.”