Access and Privacy Online

This is a special edition of Access and Privacy Online, bringing you an update on the Senate hearings into Bill C-4, Part 4.   Over the past week, Senators have heard unified testimony from privacy regulators, civil society leaders, and academic experts—all warning that Part 4 weakens Canadians’ privacy rights rather than strengthening them.   Today, we’ll walk through what happened, what tools ar...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, February 14th.  This week, policing is under increased privacy and information scrutiny as a sweeping corruption scandal in Toronto has led to charges against eight current and former officers—and triggered a province-wide systems review across Ontario.  We’re also tracking renewed calls to bring the Prime Minister’s Office under access-to...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, February 7th.  This week, access-to-information requests continue to expose deep accountability gaps—from millions in executive bonuses paid despite missed federal performance targets, to Alberta municipalities left carrying hundreds of millions in unpaid oil and gas taxes.  We’re also looking at how transparency failures intersect with hu...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, January 31st.  This week, artificial intelligence is colliding with privacy, democracy, and public trust—from Google’s move to fold personal data directly into AI-powered search to renewed federal plans for an online harms bill that could reshape how Canadians, especially children, experience the internet.  We’re also tracking how access-t...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, January 24th.  This week, we’re tracking a sharp escalation in surveillance and enforcement powers—from a B.C. municipality openly challenging a privacy watchdog’s authority to U.S. immigration officers asserting the right to enter homes without a judge’s warrant.  We’re also looking at how access-to-information requests continue to expose...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, January 17th.  We’re starting the year with a heavy focus on access to information and what happens when transparency fails or is actively resisted.  This week, access requests uncover troubling gaps in domestic-violence prosecutions in Nunavut, reveal why a Parks Canada boat ban blindsided communities in Manitoba, and expose how billions...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Thursday, January 15th—our first  News Summary of 2026.  After the holiday break, there’s a lot to catch up on. Across Canada and internationally, familiar themes re-emerge: data breaches with unresolved accountability, governments struggling to balance security, privacy, and transparency, and growing pressure to define how artificial intelligence i...

In this commentary, we have a special end-of-year commentary among FIPA contributors.   Tune in to hear our discussion between FIPA President Mike Larsen and Executive Director Jason Woywada as we discuss the year that was and the year ahead.   Support these efforts by  subscribing  or  donating .  Send comments to  FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca   Access and Privacy Commentary:  https://fipa.bc.ca/researc...

In this commentary, we have a special end-of-year commentary among FIPA contributors.   Tune in to hear our discussion between producer Patrick Farnsworth, FIPA researcher Spencer Izen, and Executive Director Jason Woywada as they discuss Spencer’s work and research with the preliminary report from his access assessments.  2025 Access Assessment Preliminary Report:  https://fipa.bc.ca/aa/prelimina...

In this commentary, we have a special end-of-year commentary among FIPA contributors.   Tune in to hear our discussion with FIPA researcher Ryan Rutley, who was one of our University of Victoria Law Co-op Students at FIPA this year. We discuss his experience and work around Bill C-4 Submissions, Leading and Trailing Language with FoIPPA Exemption Clauses, and the CBA Privacy and Access Law Confere...

In this segment of our end-of-year discussion, FIPA President Mike Larsen, Executive Director Jason Woyada, and producer Patrick Farnsworth look ahead to the stories they’re following into the new year.  Tune in to hear the full discussion in the coming weeks. Support these efforts by  subscribing  or  donating .  Send comments to  FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca   Access and Privacy Commentary:  https://fi...

In this segment of our end-of-year discussion, FIPA researcher Ryan Rutley explains why Part 4 of Bill C-4 is a direct attack on the privacy of Canadians and how his research intersects with FIPA’s call to action. Tune in to hear the full discussion in the coming weeks.  UPDATED Call to Action:  https://fipa.bc.ca/bill-c-4-2025/   FIPA Bill C-4 Part 4 Dashboard:  https://fipa.bc.ca/fipa-bill-c-4-p...

In this segment of our end-of-year discussion, FIPA researcher Spencer Izen discusses his insights into FOI and operational and administrative record keeping.  Tune in to hear the full discussion in the coming weeks. 2025 Access Assessment Preliminary Report  https://fipa.bc.ca/aa/preliminary-report-2025/    Access Regimes: Social Studies of Recordkeeping, Bureaucracy, and Secrecy under Freedom of...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, December 20th.   As we close out our final news summary of 2025, this week’s stories bring together a familiar set of themes: how access to information exposes public risk, how governments are reshaping decision-making behind closed doors, and how emerging technologies—from artificial intelligence to biometric surveillance—are testing the...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, December 13th.   As we head into the holiday season, it’s another big week for access and privacy. Local Journalism Initiative reporting uncovers serious questions about water safety, council transparency, and digital surveillance at home. Nationally, we’re seeing renewed pressure around the Ring of Fire, critical minerals, and Indigenous...

BC Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey returns to Access and Privacy Online to speak with FIPA President Mike Larsen, Executive Director Jason Woywada, and producer Patrick Farnsworth.   Commissioner Harvey addresses several key subjects, including the BC government's latest report on the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act and concerns that people are losing faith in the FOI sy...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, December 6th.   This week, police-worn body cameras are expanding across the country—and in some places, they’re being paired with new AI tools that raise serious questions about oversight and public transparency. We’re also watching a surge of major developments out of Alberta, from an influential access-to-information ruling to new conce...

BC Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey returns to Access and Privacy Online to speak with FIPA President Mike Larsen, Executive Director Jason Woywada, and producer Patrick Farnsworth. Here is a brief segment of our interview.  Following the release of a joint statement from Commissioners across Canada calling for government action, the Commissioner unpacks how the lack of transpar...

BC Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey returns to Access and Privacy Online to speak with FIPA President Mike Larsen, Executive Director Jason Woywada, and producer Patrick Farnsworth. Here is a brief segment of our interview.  The province of BC recently released their Report on the Administration of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for 2024/25. The numbers...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 29th.   This week, the national spotlight is squarely on children’s privacy and online safety. Advocates are renewing calls for federal action as harms escalate, from AI-driven manipulation to tragic failures in youth mental health information practices. And as families head into holiday shopping, experts warn that AI-powered toys...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 22nd.   There’s a lot happening on the access and privacy front across Canada this week—especially at the local level.  We begin with two important reports about artificial intelligence: one municipal government adopting a responsible-use policy and another analysis warning that “shadow AI” is already posing silent risks inside Ca...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 15th.   With most political attention still focused on Ottawa, it’s a lighter news week—but one that gives us sharp insight into privacy, transparency, and information sharing, both here at home and around the world.  We start with Local Journalism Initiative reporting from coast to coast: Newfoundland’s AI policies after a major...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 8th.   It’s a big week in Ottawa—Information and Privacy Commissioners from across Canada have issued a joint resolution calling on governments to protect democracy through stronger access and information management.   We’ll also look at how access-to-information laws continue to shed light on federal decision-making, from foreign...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 1st.   We’ll lead with a troubling question about who Canada’s intelligence agencies are really working for—new documents reveal how lobbying from a major pipeline company opened the door for corporate access to national security intelligence.  We’ll follow with stories from the Local Journalism Initiative, where freedom-of-inform...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, October 25th.   We’ll start with a group of Local Journalism Initiative stories that show how this initiative is regularly employing access and requests for information in their reporting.   We’ll follow that up with national reports that intersect access and privacy, including continuing fallout from the damning federal auditor's report t...