Privacy Commissioner recuses himself from cyber attack investigation

Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey has rejected claims of reasonable apprehension of bias brought against him by the provincial government but has agreed to recuse himself from further involvement in the investigation to avoid a lengthy and expensive court proceeding.

Harvey was investigating the cyber attack that resulted in thousands of people having their information stolen.

The Commissioner is delegating his authority to conduct and conclude this investigation to Sean Murray, Director of Research and Quality Assurance.

The provincial government brought an application before the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador seeking an order to prevent the Information and Privacy Commissioner from continuing to direct the ongoing investigation into the attack.