INNISFAIL - Changes to Alberta’s freedom of information and privacy legislation will have several implications for Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS), trustees heard during a recent board meeting.
The 10,400-student RDCRS division includes schools in Innisfail and Olds.
The Access to Information Act and the Protection of Privacy Act have been split into two separate pieces of legislation.
“This change is going to have several implications for Red Deer Catholic Schools,” RDCRS secretary-treasurer Laurel Latka said in a report presented to trustees.
The Access to Information Act focuses on the public’s right to access government records, while the Protection of Privacy Act focuses on protecting individuals’ personal information held by public boards.
She outlined five principle implications for the division: increased complexity, policy and procedure review, staff training, resource allocation and potential for increased requests.9
Regarding increased complexity, she said, “handling information requests and ensuring privacy will become more complex, requiring a deeper understanding of two separate acts rather than one.”
As for policy and procedure review, she said the division will need to review and update its existing related policies and procedures to ensure compliance.
“This includes policies related to information requests, privacy breeches, data storage and security, and staff training,” she said.
Required staff training will need to cover topics such as identifying personal information, responding to information requests, protecting privacy and reporting privacy breeches, she said.
The division may need to allocate additional resources to manage the increased complexity of information access and privacy protection, she said.
“This could include hiring additional staff, purchasing new software or providing more training,” she said.
Recommendations include conducting a thorough review of existing policies and procedures, develop and implement updated policies and procedures, provide comprehensive training to all staff, allocate sufficient resources to managed the changes, and monitor the impact of the new legislation, she said.
“By taking proactive steps to review and update policies and procedures, provide staff training, and allocate sufficient resources, the division can ensure compliance with the new legislation and protect the privacy of its students, staff and families,” she said.
RDCRS superintendent Kathleen Finnigan told the Albertan Latka’s Access to Information report was “continued learning about the changes in consideration of policy or procedure review.”
Trustees accepted the report as information.
