Vancouver, August 30, 2019 – Yesterday, the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC, Michael McEvoy, issued an Order stating that BC’s privacy laws apply to the electoral district associations of federal political parties, despite their contestations. The Order affirms that all organizations in BC, including those created by federal political parties, must be held to […]

As we learned in the first episode of Data Subjects, BC’s Freedom of Information laws were created in order to ensure that public records belong to the public, which is a fundamental principle to our democracy. Citizens in a democratic nation must have a right of access to information about their government in order to […]

We’re calling on the provincial government to keep their promise Earlier this month, we teamed up with the BC Civil Liberties Association and created a petition to encourage the British Columbia government to keep their campaign promise of reforming the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). This Act is as important today […]

This report updates FIPA’s 2015 ground-breaking report, The Connected Car: Who is in the Driver’s Seat? As may be expected, there have been major developments both in technology and policy since our first Connected Car report. Technology that was once exclusively available in high end vehicles has become commonplace. According to one estimate, 98 per […]

Since 2014, the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has been pushing back against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) through complaints filed with the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), the oversight body for CSIS. BCCLA alleges that CSIS illegally spies on activist and environmental groups that operate in […]

We are asking the BC Government to keep their promise. Sign the petition for FIPPA reform today! The BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) was meant to help create a culture of openness and transparency within the government. Today, however, we frequently see public bodies failing to create records or destroying […]

On June 27th, 2019, at our Annual General Meeting, we’ll be presenting The Tyee with an award that recognizes their outstanding reporting related to surveillance and privacy. (More information about our AGM and registration.) As a nonprofit society, the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association holds an Annual General Meeting. We like to make […]

The last couple of weeks have seen question period in the BC Legislature occupied by the allegations of a whistle-blower accusing the Minister of Citizens’ Services, Jinny Sims, of wrongdoings that include circumventing the freedom of information laws that she oversees. Compounding this issue are two things: The first is that Jinny Sims apologized only […]

In this special edition episode of our Data Subjects podcast, we revisit our Policing Info World conference. On May 23, 2019, we co-hosted a conference that explored the data behind crime, law enforcement, and surveillance. Along with department of criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the BC Civil Liberties Association, we heard from experts in law enforcement, […]

Join us on June 27, 2019 for our 2019 Annual General Meeting. The meeting will take place at the Vancouver Public Library’s Central Branch (350 W Georgia St.) in the Alma VanDusen Room at 6:30 PM. We’re excited to welcome Bryan Carney from The Tyee as the guest speaker. His reporting covers freedom of information […]

Vancouver, May 17, 2019 – Question period in the BC Legislature this week has been occupied by the accusations of a whistleblower who claims that the Minister of Citizens’ Services, Jinny Sims, has been using her personal email address to conduct government business in order to circumvent Freedom of Information laws. This is particularly troublesome […]

This episode continues our story on the history of BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act by exploring what’s gone wrong since the Act was passed. We begin in the year 1996, when a new NDP government under Premier Glen Clark is taking office in BC. You’ll hear about why former Premier Clark […]