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 concerns […]

FIPA is sharing a preliminary report of our efforts to study freedom of information (FOI) in BC.  Since late 2022, FIPA has been engaged on a research project that uses documents obtained through FOI requests to piece together how FOI requests are processed. We collected data from every public body subject to both the Freedom of Information Act and Protection […]

The information below links to the requests made, the public bodies who received them, and the release package FIPA received in response. Broader Public Sector 2024 BC Broader Public Sector Requests Core Government 2024 BC Core Government Requests Note: The data for this work is based on research conducted for FIPA’s larger project Access Regimes: Social […]

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 of action on the access and privacy front across Canada at local levels  We lead with two reports that shed light on Artificial intelligence policies and threats. With another example of a local council passing an AI policy, and another report highlighting […]

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 15th.   With attention still in Ottawa we have a lighter news week while still gaining important insight into privacy items domestically and abroad.  We travel coast to coast with local journalism initiative reporters looking at the DE prioritization of AI policies in Newfoundland, Alberta separatism […]

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 aid to digital sovereignty.  […]

A new area of analysis for 2025, the following information is a draft and subject to correction. Introduction  Darts and Laurels . Analysis  Definitions  Scope of legislation to disregard requests What is the process What is the outcome Proportionality & Powers Appendix 1 Information Reviewed Appendix 2 Rubric Questions & Interpretations Appendix 3 Tables Defined […]

FIPA is privileged and grateful to attend the CBA Privacy and Access Law Conference 2025. Legal Researcher Ryan Rutley is part of SESSION 1.1: 3rd party information exemption – practical tips to protecting your organization’s confidential information Executive Director Jason Woywada is part of SESSION 4.1: Trivial, frivolous, vexatious, outrageous! – The state of frivolous […]

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, November 1st.   We’ll lead with troubling implications for Canadians and who the nation’s intelligence agencies is working for. Reporting informed from access to information reveals that lobbying by the company formerly known as Trans Canada Pipelines has succeeded and gives them ongoing access to CSIS.  We’ll […]

The following was submitted in abridged form to the Finance Committee reviewing Bill C-4 as a brief. A big FIPA thank you to Gage Smith for his legal research and drafting on this analysis. Intro  Part 4 of Bill C-4 would significantly alter the legal framework regulating federal political parties’ (FPPs) management of personal information. […]

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 auditors report that includes identification […]