Can a municipality sell the personal information on the assessment roll to external groups or companies, such as marketers?
• No. In Order 2000-024, the Information and Privacy Commissioner found that the names and mailing addresses on the assessment roll could not be disclosed outside of the municipality. • The Commissioner found that the personal information was collected for the purpose of determining tax liability and/or for collecting a tax. Therefore section 16(2) of the FOIP Act applies to the personal information, and the information must not be disclosed in responding to a FOIP request. This is a mandatory exception to disclosure in the FOIP Act. • When the information is requested, without a FOIP request, the information could only be disclosed under section 40 of the FOIP Act. The most likely section is 40(1)(b), if the disclosure would not be an unreasonable invasion of privacy. Under section 17(4)(e) of the FOIP Act, a disclosure of personal information collected for the purpose of collecting a tax is presumed to be an unreasonable invasion of privacy. • However, if the property owners’ names a
Related Questions
- Can a municipality disclose names and addresses of new residents (from the assessment roll or from applications for utilities) to organizations like Welcome Wagon?
- Can a municipality sell the personal information on the assessment roll to external groups or companies, such as marketers?
- Can a municipality provide information on the assessment roll to 911 operators and ambulance service providers?
