Privacy & access

The University of Victoria, as a public body, is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and its Regulations. The General Counsel is the delegated head for the university under the FIPPA.

As the delegated head, the General Counsel provides leadership in the development and implementation of the university’s Protection of Privacy and Access to Information programs. This work includes developing policies and procedures and being a resource to the university community by providing advice and training on protection of privacy and access to information. The General Counsel is also responsible for answering all related enquiries from the public.

In carrying out these responsibilities, the General Counsel works with the Corportate Privacy Officer and Director of Privacy and Access in the management of the operations of both the Protection of Privacy program and all processing stages of Access to Information requests submitted to the university under the FIPPA (FOI Access Requests). The Corportate Privacy Officer and Director of Privacy and Access is assisted by the Data Protection Officer and the Access Officer; these professionals work from the Privacy and Access to Information Office.

Guidance for managing privacy and security incidents

 

Seeking feedback on GV0235 the Protection of Privacy Policy Revised Draft

 

GV0235 – The Protection of Privacy Policy is due to be reviewed and updated. As such, the Privacy and Access to Information Office has been working over the past few months to revise the policy, guided by the following objectives:

Reflecting the 2021 changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

  1. Improving readability and removing redundancy
  2. Reflecting the current practices of the Privacy and Access to Information Office
  3. Closing gaps in the previous policy

Please note that we are just focused on the policy itself at this time and will update the procedures once the policy changes have been approved.

At this time, we are asking for the University Community to provide feedback on the draft. Below are two files: 

  1. GV023 Policy and Procedures 2025 Update is the revised policy.
  2. GV0235 Privacy Policy – Table of Changes is an accompanying document which tracks the clause-by-clause changes with the rationale.

The table of changes is comprised of 4 columns: 

  1. Clause – which notes the clause number or title as it appears in the revised policy, bolded and in black font; as well as the old clause number or title, crossed out and in red font.
  2. Original Provision – which displays the clause as it existed in the original policy. If a clause did not exist in the original policy, an N/A occupied this space. If a clause was revised, the revisions appear in red or are stricken out.
  3. Changed Provision – if no change exists, that is reflected; if the provision was deleted, N/A will occupy this space; if a clause was revised the revisions are in red.
  4. Rationale – here we document why we made the changes, if no change was made, N/A will occupy this space. 

This phase of the consultation closes on October 10, 2025. If you are interested in providing feedback on the revised policy, please ensure your comments are sent to privacyinfo@uvic.ca by the end of the day October 10. Use “GV0235 Amendment Consultation” in the subject line to assist us in organizing your feedback from the rest of our emails.