Glossary of Terms

Applicant:

An individual who makes a formal request for access to information or a request to correct personal information in a record in the custody or under the control of a public body.

Complaint:

A formal objection made to the Information and Privacy Commissioner with regard to the information and privacy practices of a public body.

Head of a Public Body:

The person responsible for the administration of the Act within a public body.

Information:

Anything contained in a record of a public body.

Intervenor:

A person, group, or organization that has an interest in an issue being decided at an inquiry and is invited by the Information and Privacy Commissioner to present evidence or make a submission at that inquiry.

Inquiry:

A quasi-judicial process in which the Information and Privacy Commissioner decides on the appropriate application of the law on the basis of evidence and arguments from an applicant and representatives of a public body.

Judicial Review:

A form of appeal to the Supreme Court of British Columbia for review of the Commissioner's Order. The Court may not review the Order for factual errors, but may vary or overturn the Order for reasons such as an error in law or administrative fairness.

Order:

A binding decision of the Information and Privacy Commissioner that resolves issues raised in an inquiry.

Personal Information:

Recorded information about an identifiable individual.

Public Body:

Organizations covered by the Act including provincial ministries, municipal bodies, agencies, school boards, hospital boards, post-secondary institutions, commissions, Crown corporations, and self-governing professional bodies.

Record:

Includes books, documents, maps, drawings, photographs, letters, vouchers, papers, and any other thing on which information is recorded or stored by graphic, electronic, mechanical, or other means, but does not include a computer program or any other mechanism that produces records.

Request for Review:

A review involves an investigation by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of a decision, act or failure to act, of the head of a public body in relation to a formal request for access to information.

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