Access and Privacy Online

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, May 3rd.  

Our condolences go out to everyone in the Filipino community and Vancouver affected by the tragic events of April 26th. 

Off the top, the dust is still settling on the federal election, and we see the first of the Code of Silence Awards being handed out.  

We’ll look at important stories impacting access to information, privacy, and information management across ...

Election Day is Monday, April 28th!  

Be sure to listen in as FIPA President Mike Larsen, Executive Director Jason Woywada, and Legal Researcher Spencer Izen sit down with me to discuss Canada's Federal Election and FIPA’s surveys questionnaires and guides.    

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Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Access and Privacy Commentaries: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/ac...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, April 26th.  

It’s Election day on Monday, April 28th! 

We’ll start with the historic fines and action being taken against Meta and Apple in the European Union for privacy violations.  

We’ll shift to the privacy and access to information stories from across Canada, including great reminders about Border search and seizures by US Border Agents.  

That will lead us into our,...

 The team here at Access and Privacy Online are taking the Easter Weekend off, and we hope you all have the opportunity to do the same. 

We’ll be back next week with more coverage of the headlines and commentary. In particular, in the coming week, we’ll be sharing a recent lecture from FIPA President Mike Larson, where he expounds on 'why Privacy matters, and why it matters right now'. 

We ...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, April 12th. We are entering week four of the federal election here in Canada. 

We’ll start with a few national stories before diving into the local journalism reports informed by and intersecting access to information privacy and information management across Canada.   

We have a couple of non-Trump related stories out of the US before we continue to consider the chaos eman...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, April 5th, and we are entering week three of the federal election here in Canada. 

On the radar this week: 

• Police record-keeping and the growing role of AI both inside and outside the courtroom. 

• Two scandals involving taxpayer dollars and questions of political accountability. 

• Updates on environmental topics shaped by access to information. 

FIPA was recently at the 27th Annual Victoria International Privacy & Security Summit. It was a great event with hundreds of cybersecurity and privacy professionals from around the globe addressing the topics facing the use and protection of your personal information.  

We were grateful and privileged to have an opportunity to have BC Information Commissioner Michael Harvey sit down with FIPA President Mike Larsen and Executive...

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 29. 

In this week’s cast, we see Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston moving to turn the page on Bill 1 legislative changes. We also have our weekly scan of stories from the Canadian Press that intersect with access to information, privacy, and information management across Canada, the U.S., and around the world. And as Fraud Prevention Month draws to a close, we’ll t...

The Canadian federal election is underway. 

In this week's commentary, join Patrick Farnsworth along with FIPA President Mike Larsen and Executive Director Jason Woywada with this week's special guest Duff Conacher, Executive Director of Democracy Watch. They’re all here to discuss the recent Ontario election and consider various tools from the non-profit sector that can help anyone casting their ballot make a more informed decisio...

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 22. 

We have multiple stories that put Premier Tim Houston and Nova Scotia back in the spotlight for aggressive legislation, plus a roundup of local stories across Canada intersecting with access to information, privacy, and information management.  

There’s still plenty of chaos coming from south of the border, impacting Americans’ privacy concerns, and we see a...

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 8. 

This week, while Canadian privacy and access issues remain at the forefront of our consideration, much of the attention is directed to the elephant south of the border.

We do have a few Canadian stories, with a lot of US coverage, including AI-powered child monitoring battles, escalating international disputes, and new concerns over access to personal data.

P...

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 8.

We lead with Nova Scotia, where troubling developments that threatened transparency and independent oversight continue to see the province receive greater scrutiny

Across Canada, we’ve got a packed update from the Local Journalism Initiative, covering key regional privacy and access issues. Nationally, several stories intersect Canadian federal privacy policy—...

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 1st. 

We start with the ongoing controversy in Nova Scotia, where a government bill is raising alarms over transparency and independent oversight. We’ll also break down the Ontario election results, including responses from political parties to FIPA’s election questionnaire. 

Across Canada, stories from the Local Journalism Initiative are highlighting how privacy...

In this week's commentary, we have a difficult but necessary conversation: a BC police force is going to court over secret chat groups, following a precedent set by the BC NDP to exempt private communications from elected officials under Freedom of Information laws.

Join Patrick Farnsworth along with FIPA President Mike Larsen, as we discuss the implications. 

• Whistleblower Accusations Highlight Need for Legislative Reform: ht...

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, February 22nd. 

We lead with a troubling attack against government transparency and independent oversight in Nova Scotia.

We have a lot of coverage from the Local Journalism Initiative and news outlets across Canada, exploring stories where privacy and access to information shape important regional issues. We’ll also highlight a case where a public body in Ontario may ...

In this week's commentary, we take a deeper dive into the Municipal disclosure of records investigative report from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC. 

Join me along with FIPA President Mike Larsen, and Executive Director Jason Woywada as we discuss the report's implications with BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey. 

BC OIPC Municipal Disclosure of Records Report:

• Municipal disc...

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, February 15th.

This week, we continue coverage of the PowerSchool Data Breach and its impact across Canada. But that's not all—other major stories in privacy and information management are making waves across the country and globally.

From government restrictions on AI chatbots to Canada's stance on a Ukraine peace deal, plus a deep dive into municipal disclosure of re...

In this week's commentary, foreign chaos is disrupting cybersecurity, privacy, and access to information. In this discussion, Jim Love from TechNewsday.ca, Professor Emeritus Colin Bennett from the University of Victoria, FIPA President Mike Larsen, and FIPA Executive Director Jason Woywada joined me to examine how global instability is challenging long-held assumptions about data security. 

Foreign impacts on data sovereignty:

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, February 8th. 

We continue to track the nationwide fallout from the PowerSchool data breaches in Canada. We'll also take a look at a recent phishing attack targeting a BC school district, highlighting ongoing risks to educational institutions. 

There’s a new report from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner on municipal record-keeping—a topic with sign...