Privacy concerns are snowballing about the collection, use and disclosure of personal information through police databases. On Wednesday, BC Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham released a report detailing her recent investigation into employment-related criminal record checks by the BC Government. In her report, Denham notes that approximately 85% of the government’s 33,500 employees must […]

BC’s Representative for Children and Youth has released a scathing statement expressing deep concerns over the effectiveness, security, and reliability of the BC Government’s pricey Integrated Case Management System. Representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond doesn’t mince words in her statement, stating “I strongly believe that ICM is not adequate to provide safety to vulnerable children, youth […]

FIPA is excited to announce that the 2012 BC Information Summit will take place September 19th at UBC Robson Square. The event, entitled “This Time, It’s Personal: Freedom of Information and Privacy Under Government 2.0” will take a comprehensive look at the BC Government’s new “Government 2.0: Citizens @ The Centre” initiative, and what it […]

The day before the beginning of a long weekend in both Canada and the United States, our governments finally released perimeter security privacy protection principles that were supposed to have been completed on May 30. It really wasn’t worth the wait. You can see the full text of the document here. Adding irony to the […]

FIPA congratulates the Canadian Identity Theft Support Centre (CITSC) on the official launch of their victim support services! The Canadian Identity Theft Support Centre is a non-profit organization focused on assisting victims and potential victims of identity crimes. Experts work directly with victims and advise them on the step-by-step practices that will assist them in […]

There has been a lot of discouraging news on the FOI and privacy front recently as a raft of new legislation introduced in the last couple of weeks undercuts the law protecting our FOI and privacy rights. All four bills have been criticized by provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham in an unprecedented barrage […]

BC Supreme court justice Bracken has set down his ruling on a judicial review application sought by the Minister of Citizens Services in the ongoing dispute regarding disclosure of the IBM contract with the Ministry for “Workplace Support”: British Columbia (Minister of Citizens’ Services) v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner) 2012 BCSC 875 The […]

In today’s Vancouver Sun, FIPA’s Executive Director Vincent Gogolek teams up with Michael Vonn of the BCCLA and Shannon Daub of the CCPA to push back against the BC Government’s election advertising ‘gag law.’ Meant to keep big money advertising out of election campaigns, the law misses the mark, and ends up crushing small spenders […]

Election advertising law doesn’t just limit big spenders – small spenders get tangled in complicated rules that undermine democratic debate. Instead of re-introducing controversial “pre-campaign” limits, the provincial government should focus on fixing other problems in BC’s third party election advertising rules – problems that created a chill effect in the lead-up to the 2009 […]

BC’s Minister of Social Development Stakes Government’s Reputation on Safety and Privacy of new Integrated Case Management System Controversy is growing over the BC government’s new $182 million Integrated Case Management (ICM) system now being rolled out across BC. The ICM system will create a database of unprecedented scope and detail about the lives of […]

We may be small but we have a big reach! Read all about the extent of FIPA’s work in our Annual Report for 2011 (pdf).

In this issue: FIPA, allies call for public inquiry into integrated case management system Federal information commissioner announces ATIA consultations New ID theft support centre launched INFO SUMMIT 2012 – September 19, 2012 BC Government finally releases $300 million IBM contract Commissioner Denham launches section 25 investigation after FIPA, ELC complaint Staff changes and new […]