What is Personal Information?

The definition of “personal information” as given in FIPPA is recorded information about an identifiable individual, including:

• Information relating to the race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation or marital or family status of the individual;
• Information relating to the education or the medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal or employment history of the individual or information relating to financial transactions in which the individual has been involved;
• Any identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to the individual;
• The address, telephone number, fingerprints or blood type of the individual;
• The personal opinions or views of the individual except where they relate to another individual;
• Correspondence sent to an institution by the individual that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature, and replies to that correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence;
• The views or opinions of another individual about the individual; and
• The individual’s name where it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual.

What is a personal information bank?

The definition of a “personal information bank” as given in FIPPA is a collection of personal information that is organized and capable of being retrieved using an individual’s name or an identifying number or particular assigned to the individual.