Steven Tam – VIPSS24
Partner, INQ Law
Steven is a partner at INQ Law and a senior legal and privacy professional with a focus on data sharing frameworks and strategic data governance and stewardship.
He served as General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) for over 12 years. In this capacity, he led the development of the General Health Information Sharing Agreement (GHISA), a unified, overarching agreement signed in 2013 between the BC Ministry of Health and all BC health authorities. Today, the GHISA continues to be the foundational legal, policy and data governance framework that governs almost all sharing of health information across the province for provision of care, research, quality improvement and healthcare planning. He also played a key role in influencing recent changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act that reformed its data residency provisions to better support health innovation and technology adoption.
Most recently, prior to joining INQ Law, he served as VCH’s Chief Data Governance Officer where he worked to transform how data is strategically governed and managed so that higher quality data is made accessible more quickly to clinicians, researchers and administrators to deliver better care and improve our healthcare system, while enhancing data security, privacy and ethical use of health data.
In addition to a Bachelor of Laws degree from UBC, Steven holds a Masters in E-Business law from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from UBC.
Steven is a partner at INQ Law and a senior legal and privacy professional with a focus on data sharing frameworks and strategic data governance and stewardship.
He served as General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) for over 12 years. In this capacity, he led the development of the General Health Information Sharing Agreement (GHISA), a unified, overarching agreement signed in 2013 between the BC Ministry of Health and all BC health authorities. Today, the GHISA continues to be the foundational legal, policy and data governance framework that governs almost all sharing of health information across the province for provision of care, research, quality improvement and healthcare planning. He also played a key role in influencing recent changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act that reformed its data residency provisions to better support health innovation and technology adoption.
Most recently, prior to joining INQ Law, he served as VCH’s Chief Data Governance Officer where he worked to transform how data is strategically governed and managed so that higher quality data is made accessible more quickly to clinicians, researchers and administrators to deliver better care and improve our healthcare system, while enhancing data security, privacy and ethical use of health data.
In addition to a Bachelor of Laws degree from UBC, Steven holds a Masters in E-Business law from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from UBC.
