The complainant alleged that Correctional Service Canada (CSC) had improperly withheld information under subsection 19(1) (personal information) as well as several other provisions of the Access to Information Act in response to an access request. The request was for the entire CSC and Parole Board of Canada institutional file of a named inmate. The allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

The records contain detailed, intimate and sensitive personal information relating to the inmate and other individuals. CSC showed that it had met all the requirements of subsection 19(1) when withholding this information. In addition, it showed, among other things, that it either did not receive or determined it was not appropriate to ask for the consent of the individuals to whom the information relates to disclose it, and that the public interest did not outweigh the invasion of privacy that would result from disclosure. As a result, CSC did not have to exercise its discretion to decide whether to disclose the information. The complaint is not well founded.