New Brunswick is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. New Brunswick has specific privacy legislation for organizations operating in the public bodies named The Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RTIPPA) but for the private sector there is no privacy legislation in place. As we already know and if you have read our previous post, you might be having an idea that when province of Canada does not have any privacy legislation then the federal act i.e. PIPEDA (The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) applies in such situations.
Although, New Brunswick has Personal Health Information Privacy and Access Act (Hereinafter referred to as PHIPAA). PHIPAA sets out the rules that custodians and health care managers are required to follow. If defines personal agent, health information, health care, health care facility, etc.
Purpose of the Act
The act indicates following purposes which the act ensures to provide and they are-
- To provide individuals with a right to examine and receive a copy of their personal health Information maintained by the custodian (obviously this purpose has some exceptions)
- To provide individuals with the right to request the correction of their personal information.
- To establish a set of rules for custodians regarding the collection, use, disclosure, retention and secure destruction of personal health information.
- To facilitate the effective provision of care and planning and management of the care health system.
- Establishing a mechanism to ensure accountability of persons having custody or control of personal health information.
- To establish a mechanism to safeguard the security and personal health information.
- Provide effective remedies for contravention of this act.
In order to understand this, we first need to understand the meaning of custodian. As per section of the act Custodian means
“An individual or organization that collects, maintains uses personal health information for the purposes of providing or assisting in the provision of personal health care or treatment planning and management of the healthcare system or delivering a government program or service”
In other words, this act applies to any custodian (public as well as private bodies). Read our next post to know more about this entire piece of legislation.
To Be Continued……………………….
Picture Credit- https://www.privacysense.net
References- https://www.canlii.org/