University of Alberta Students Recognized for Leadership in Access to Information and Privacy

June 8, 2009

Privasoft, the global leader in automated freedom of information (FOI) case management solutions is pleased to announce the winners of the annual Privasoft Scholarship for Information Access and Protection of Privacy Certificate Program (IAPP) at the University of Alberta.

Each year, scholarships are awarded to the two students with the highest academic standings completing the IAPP Certificate Program with the Faculty of Extension, Government Studies. For 2009, congratulations go to Jeffrey Meyer of Health Canada and Brian Perry of the Sydney Regional Hospital.

Jeffrey Meyer currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario, and works for Health Canada as a Cabinet and Parliamentary Affairs Analyst. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Sociology, and is fascinated by the concept of governance and its study.

He explains that: “Before joining the IAPP program I held the worldly view that ‘information access’ and ‘information privacy’ were incompatible concepts, and that having a greater inclination towards one necessarily came at the expense of the other. I no longer hold such a dichotomous viewpoint, and the IAPP program has taught me much on how to appreciate such concepts from a more interdependent perspective.”

Jeffrey Meyer goes on to say that he “benefited from the IAPP program in two respects. First, I now have a much better understanding of Canada’s Access and Privacy laws – their origins, their intended purpose, their scope and limitations. Second, I now know how to exercise my access and privacy rights – rights that empower all Canadians to express a reasonable regard for the values of curiosity and self-government.”

The second winner of the IAPP scholarship is Brian Perry who works in the IT department at the regional hospital in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The province is currently in the process of developing new personal health information legislation which will take effect shortly. Healthcare is also a privacy-intense environment as it deals with the personal health information of both patients and employees, and involves many third parties such as doctors, insurers, researchers and public health administrators. As a database administrator, Brian deals with many requests for access to their corporate systems and as a result he became involved with the IAPP program. The course helped Perry get context and guidance in managing this work, and to help prepare for the impact of the upcoming legislation on his office.

Brian Perry explains that “the IAPP program was a tremendous benefit to me. Not being a privacy officer per se, I had not had any previous exposure to this type of material. The IAPP program really helped orient me to the issues and principles involved in the privacy field. I was particularly pleased with the level of instruction in this program: I found the instructors to be knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and I received lots of encouragement from them throughout each of the modules.”

Once again, congratulations to both Brian Perry and Jeffrey Meyer for their accomplishments to date and we wish you continued success in your future endeavours. For more information on the IAPP program, visit www.govsource.net.

About Privasoft
For nearly 20 years, Privasoft has served the public sector and regulated industries with automated case management solutions that improve operational efficiency, enforce compliance, and accelerate productivity. Privasoft supports clients mandated to comply with legislative, regulatory and internal requirements—from fields of law enforcement and health care to government at all levels. Every customer relies on Privasoft to capture, analyze, track, process and report on case work related to information disclosure processes. Privasoft is a Microsoft Certified Partner with offices in Ottawa, ON, Herndon, VA and Brentford, Middlesex. For more information about Privasoft, visit www.privasoft.com