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As of 27 September 1993, access to government records held at the B.C. Archives are granted under the terms of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The purposes of this Act (proclaimed on 4 October 1993) are to make government more accountable and to protect personal privacy by: giving the public a right of access to records; giving individuals a right of access to, and a right to request correction of, personal information about themselves; specifying limited exceptions to the right of access; preventing the unauthorized collection, use or disclosure of personal information, and; providing for the independent review of decisions made under the Act.
The Act applies to most records of the government of B.C., including photographs, films, videos, maps and plans, as well as textual records. It does not apply to published records or to records received by the B.C. Archives through private donations; thus there will be no change in procedures for accessing these materials.
Access staff will continue to help you to identify records which are relevant to your work. If records which you wish to consult are not routinely open to researchers, staff in the Information and Privacy Section will advise you about the best way to request access to them.
The new Act will benefit researchers by giving them access to many records which were not previously available and by simplifying the process of requesting access to some restricted records. Researchers will no longer be required to obtain permission from another ministry in order to get access to records held by B.C. Archives.
To better protect the privacy of individuals whose personal information is in B.C. Archives' holdings, the Act requires this institution to restrict access to some records which have previously been open to researchers. We regret any inconvenience which this may cause.
If you have questions about how the new legislation may affect your research, an archivist will be glad to answer them. A copy of the Act will be available at the Reference desk for the information of researchers.
Gary Mitchell
Provincial Archivist
See Also: More information on Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy
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| Inquiries: | Inquiries related to archival holdings, specific records, access, research, or reproduction orders may be submitted via electronic form or Email, as well as by mail or fax. | ||
| Home Page: | http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca | This Page: | http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/sn-18694AD/services/servops/foi.htm |
| Last Modified: | Tuesday, 10-Dec-2002 13:35:28 PST | Maintained by: | webmaster@www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca |
| Copyright: | Information on this site is provided for research purposes only. Please review Access and Usage. Unless indicated otherwise, this page and all contents are Copyright ©, BC Archives, Royal BC Museum. | ||
| Records Classification: This site is classified and scheduled under ORCS 15100-25 | |||