Gaithersburg, MD – January 21, 2021 – ATIPXpress customer The Province of Nova Scotia, Canada has officially launched their online request portal for members of the public to submit and receive Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) requests. The portal, or Public Access Link (PAL), is a module of ATIPXpress that integrates directly with the software to enhance functionality and collaboration between requesters and FOIPOP officials.
Nova Scotia is among a long list of Canadian governments to employ AINS’ robust information management software, ATIPXpress, and request portal to manage access to information requests. Yet the project was made unique by requirements to integrate PAL with Nova Scotia’s log-on service and payment provider.
“At the forefront of everything we did was security: The application and its hosted environment had to conform to Nova Scotia’s highest security standards to ensure the safety of their data,” said AINS Senior Implementation Specialist Denise Viola.
Nova Scotia is the third current province-wide deployment of ATIPXpress and the first customer to be provided the solution as software-as-a-service (SaaS) through Amazon Web Services.
“It is an absolute pleasure to work with the Information Access and Privacy team of Nova Scotia,” said Viola. “They are a group of consummate professionals who truly care about what they do. I am proud to be part of the team that empowers transparency in the U.S. and Canada.”
See the full press release, available at www.novascotia.ca/news, below.
New FOIPOP Portal Launches
January 21, 2021 – 9:59 AM
Nova Scotians have a new, easy and secure online portal to submit and receive Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) requests.
Launched today, Jan. 21, the new portal allows the public to submit information requests, track the progress of requests, pay fees and receive responses online. A new and updated disclosure site was also launched to replace the temporary site and will give the public access to previously released information requests.
“The public can now use the FOIPOP online portal to access information knowing that additional safeguards have been put in place to support increased security and privacy protocols,” said Patricia Arab, Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services. “The new portal restores the ability for people to easily submit requests and receive responses online.”
Steps taken to enhance the security of the new FOIPOP portal and disclosure site include:
- separating the two websites, so the FOIPOP portal is not connected to the public disclosures site
- conducting multiple levels of cyber and privacy reviews and security tests during the design phase
- conducting vulnerability tests and assessments
- ongoing security and vulnerability monitoring to maintain the new sites
Quick Facts:
- the first phase of the new system was launched in August 2020 and included a case management system used internally by Information Access and Privacy Services
- Information Access and Privacy Services processed 3,974 requests between fiscal years 2018-19 and 2020-21 while the new portal was being developed
- almost 2,000 FOIPOP applications were submitted in 2019-20 and 87 per cent were processed within the time limits set out under the FOIPOP Act
Additional Resources:
- FOIPOP Portal: https://iaprequest.novascotia.ca/
- Information Access website: https://openinformation.novascotia.ca/
- Information Access and Privacy Services annual report 2019 to 2020: https://beta.novascotia.ca/documents/information-access-and-privacy-services-annual-report-2019-2020
- AINS, Inc.: https://ains-opexustech.sentree.io/
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