(Personally, I think every individual has the right to view any files or records a religious organization has about them. Just like every individual is entitled to his or her own medical records, a person should be entitled to their own records kept by religious groups or organizations.)

If your religious leaders kept secret files on you, should you be allowed to have access to them once you leave the faith? That question is at the center of a controversial ruling last week involving the Jehovah’s Witnesses in British Columbia, and the story is far from over.

The case involves two former members: Gabriel-Liberty Wall and Gregory Westgarde. Wall had been a member of the Grand Forks congregation since 2014, having been baptized into the faith in 2012. He formally left the Witnesses in 2017. John Vabuolas was one of his elders. Westgarde was a member of the Coldstream congregation until 2009, when he left. Paul Sidhu was one of his elders. The names aren’t particularly relevant as much as their situation.

A couple of years ago, both men requested access to anything the Witnesses had on file about them, and they cited the province’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which gives individuals access to that kind of data. The Witnesses, in response, filed a civil lawsuit against the government saying they ought to be exempt from the law and that the law as written was unconstitutional.