Access and Privacy Online

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, July 11th.  We’re back after a brief holiday break. This week: a lawsuit over the exposure of nearly three million Alberta voters, unanswered questions about overdoses inside B.C. hospitals, expanding surveillance in the United States, and a serious threat to Germany’s freedom of information law.  Show Notes:  https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/2026071...

The team here at Access and Privacy Online is taking the next week off for the holiday. We’ll be back July 11th with more coverage. We’ll also be putting together some commentaries over the summer on the developing access and privacy stories we have been covering here on the podcast. Take care, and we’ll see you then. Support these efforts by subscribing or donating .  Send comments to FIPAOnline@...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 20th.  This week: transparency systems under scrutiny in B.C., new federal privacy and online safety proposals, whistleblower concerns from Montreal police, and major U.S. stories on public records, voter data, and law enforcement accountability.  And as another reminder: House of Commons petition E-7237, calling for stronger voter pr...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 20th.  This week: Ottawa moves on privacy, online safety, and surveillance powers; FIPA releases new work on access rights and transparency systems; and New Brunswick’s review of its access and privacy law points to familiar questions about timeliness, recordkeeping, voter privacy, and independent oversight.  Show Notes:  https://fipa...

Join us for FIPA's Annual General Meeting held on June 25, 2026, at 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time via Microsoft Teams.   FIPA’s 2026 AGM is an ideal opportunity to hear highlights of the Association’s work over the past year and our key priorities going forward. We will conduct regular AGM business and elect Board members.   We look forward to seeing you there!  AGM Notice  https://fipa.bc.ca/2026-...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 13th.  This week, voter privacy returns to the spotlight—with a major Senate report and fresh court developments in British Columbia.  We’re also tracking Canada’s new AI strategy, proposed online safety rules for children and chatbots, access-to-information fights in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and international concerns over AI-generat...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 6th.  This week, we begin in Alberta, where new FIPA-Ipsos polling shows strong public support for enforceable privacy rules after the exposure of voter information for 2.9 million Albertans.  We’ll also look at Alberta’s new combined ID cards, the federal lawful access bill, connected vehicle data, and several access-to-information s...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, May 30th.  This week, we begin in Ottawa, where a number of major files moved forward.  The federal government says it will amend parts of its contentious lawful access bill, while civil liberties groups continue warning that Bill C-22 could expand state surveillance without the safeguards Canadians need.  At the same time, senators are st...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, May 23rd.  This week, privacy and transparency are colliding with some of the biggest political and public policy questions in the country.  We begin with a network update on Bill C-22, the federal lawful access bill that civil liberties groups are warning could expand surveillance powers and weaken online privacy protections.  Then we tur...

In last week’s News Summary for May 16th, we at FIPA spotlighted the fallout from a cyberattack on the online learning platform Canvas, the inherent risk of education systems relying on outside platforms for essential functions, and that when one is compromised, the impact can spread across thousands of schools almost instantly. We really wanted to highlight that story, and so we’re presenting it...

In last week’s News Summary for May 16th, we at FIPA spotlighted privacy concerns regarding connected cars, namely major gaps in automakers’ privacy policies when measured against Canadian data-protection principles. We really wanted to highlight that story, and so we’re presenting it again on the feed for your consideration. Show Notes for May 16th News Summary: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20260516-acc...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, May 16th.  This week, we begin in Alberta, where the voter list breach continues to widen—with Elections Alberta warning that the number of people who accessed the data may be incomplete, while privacy, election, and police investigations continue.  We then turn to a network update on political privacy, Bill C-25, Bill C-22, and B.C.’s Bil...

FIPA President Mike Larsen reflects on the Alberta elector data breach.   In this commentary, he considers that when political parties are left outside meaningful privacy rules, sensitive democratic data can be collected, shared, and exposed without proper accountability.   Mike connects the Alberta breach to federal developments in Ottawa, including Bill C-25 and the earlier Bill C-4 changes. And...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, May 9th.  This week, we begin with the still-unfolding Alberta voter list breach, where nearly three million electors' personal information may have been exposed through a searchable database tied to separatist organizing.  The latest developments now include investigations by Elections Alberta, the RCMP, and Alberta’s Privacy Commissioner...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, May 2nd.  This week, we begin with a developing voter privacy story out of Alberta.  Elections Alberta says there was no breach of its own systems—but that a copy of the provincial List of Electors, provided to a legitimate political recipient, may have been used or distributed inappropriately.   A court injunction has now ordered the Cent...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, April 25th.  This week, access-to-information rights are under pressure in Ontario and British Columbia, civil society is warning Parliament about Bill C-22, and new Ipsos polling shows Canadians want stronger privacy rules for federal political parties.  We’ll also look at FOI records, AI policy, connected vehicles, and major privacy and...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, April 18th.  This week, we’re tracking a growing surveillance push in Canada—from federal bills that civil liberties advocates warn could expand state access to personal data to local governments in British Columbia embracing deeper camera-based policing partnerships.  In Alberta, concerns are mounting over political interference in librar...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, April 11th.  This week, we’re tracking a troubling new phase in the pressure on access and privacy rights across Canada.  In British Columbia, the provincial government has confirmed it is now using artificial intelligence tools in freedom of information processing, even as concerns grow about transparency, accountability, and the lack of...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 28th.  This week, Ontario’s government is moving to shield political records from access-to-information laws, and it has set up a direct clash with the province’s independent privacy commissioner.  At the federal level, a new bill aimed at protecting Canada’s electoral system is raising early questions—including whether privacy conce...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 21st.  This week, we begin with a troubling pattern that has been unfolding across Canada.  What started in British Columbia with Bill 9 is now being echoed elsewhere: governments and political actors chipping away at access-to-information and privacy rights while describing those changes as modernization, efficiency, or administrati...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 14th.  It’s another busy week across Canada’s privacy and transparency landscape.  We’re tracking a major privacy investigation into Loblaw’s PC Optimum program, new conditions allowing TikTok to keep operating in Canada, and growing concerns about facial recognition and workplace AI surveillance.  And on the transparency front, Cana...

Mike Larsen of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association explains how Part 4 of Bill C-4 would exempt federal political parties from federal and provincial privacy laws and leave Canadians without a legal right to access or control their personal information held by parties. FIPA’s petition calls on the House of Commons to oppose or repeal any changes to law that have the effect of exe...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, March 7th.  It’s been a busy week across the privacy and transparency landscape and here at FIPA.   In British Columbia, the provincial government has introduced Bill 9, a set of amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act that critics say could weaken public access to government records.   At the federal level,...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, February 28th.  It’s a busy week with big stories and late - breaking developments on Bill C-4 Part 4.  Artificial intelligence companies are sitting at the centre of a devastating human tragedy in Tumbler Ridge—raising questions about what happens when private companies flag violent threats but face no clear legal duty to act.  At the sam...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, February 21st.  This week, the Senate delivers a significant report on Bill C-4, Part 4, with a majority of committee members warning that the proposed political party privacy regime falls far short of minimum standards—and recommending that it be removed, severed, or sunset.  We’re also tracking how access-to-information requests continue...