A Special Committee of the BC Legislature that is reviewing the province’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act has extended the deadline for public submissions a second time. The new deadline is March 15, 2010. Information on the Special Committee and its members can be found on the Legislative Assembly website. Click here […]

BC FIPA filed a intervener factum in the Supreme Court of Canada on January 26, 2010 in case docket 33620. This is an appeal from the Court of Appeal of Alberta (Alberta Teachers’ Association v. Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2010 ABCA 26 (CanLII)) BC FIPA argues that the Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) […]

Under a new open government plan released by the Obama administration, U.S. government agencies must publish their information online in “open formats” and proactively release data using modern technologies instead of waiting for Freedom of Information Act requests Agencies, to the greatest extent that is practical, should publish their data online in an open format […]

Weekly privacy news briefs from around the world Privacy News Highlights – 31 Jan 2009 Privacy News Highlights – 12 Feb 2009 Privacy News Highlights – 20 Feb 2009 Privacy News Highlights – 28 Feb 2009 Privacy News Highlights – 13 Mar 2009 Privacy News Highlights – 20 Mar 2009 Privacy News Highlights – 31 […]

The Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services sought judicial review of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of BC (IPC) decision (F08-07) regarding the impact of third party review as part of the ongoing dispute over disclosure of the contract between the Ministry and IBM for computer services. Today, the BC Supreme Court confirmed that the […]

Opinion – Vaughn Palmer Vancouver Sun December 3, 2009 BC Information commissioner David Loukidelis is seeking a $400,000 legal budget to cover the growing number of court challenges to his rulings by the B.C. government and other public bodies. Loukidelis outlined his predicament in a recent presentation to the legislature finance committee, which vets the […]

By Lindsay Kines and Rob Shaw Canwest News Service A B.C. government employee remained on the job for seven months after police searched his Victoria home and discovered the personal information of 1,400 income-assistance clients. But government ministers were unable to say Wednesday what the employee’s responsibilities were or what kind of access he continued […]

FIPA is calling on the Liberal government to give the Special Committee reviewing the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act the full year the law provides, instead of the eight months it just set out in the terms of reference for the committee. The Act provides that the committee must not take more […]

The Electronic Commerce Protection Act (Bill C-27) is the Canadian anti-spam bill that comes out of committee on Wednesday October 21st. The opposition Liberals have proposed amendments which appear to have been drafted by copyright and telecom lobbyists. They would allow for surreptitious installation of computer programs and – even more outrageously – would allow […]

BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is about to receive a legislative review for the third time in its history. A Special Committee of the Legislature has been struck, and it is expected to have its first meeting soon. There will be no shortage of issues for the MLAs to deal with […]

Parliament should take a cautious approach to legislative proposals to create an expanded surveillance regime that would have serious repercussions for privacy rights, say Canada’s privacy guardians. Privacy commissioners and ombudspersons from across the country issued a joint resolution urging Parliamentarians to ensure there is a clear and demonstrable need to expand the investigative powers […]

BC FIPA has submitted its response to the Consultation on Copyright Reform instigated in relation to the proposed legislation in Bill C-61. BC FIPA has concerns regarding the use of Crown Copyright, provisions that would make Internet Service Providers into de facto investigative agencies for the government, and concerns with the secret nature of the […]