The Israeli military said it has “operational control” over two areas of central Gaza as it carries out ground incursions and airstrikes in a possible broadening of its monthslong war against Hamas. The army said Wednesday its was fighting “above and below ground” in eastern parts of Deir al-Balah and the built-up Bureij refugee camp.  […]

A new Washington state parental rights law derided by critics as a “forced outing” measure will be allowed to take effect this week after a court commissioner on Tuesday declined to issue an emergency order temporarily blocking it. The civil liberties groups, school district, youth services organizations and others who are challenging the law did […]

The federal justice minister said Wednesday the government’s online harms bill includes measures to protect children using age-appropriate web design. Arif Virani is touting that bill as a better solution to concerns about children accessing sexually explicit material online, versus a Senate bill currently making its way through the debate process. The Senate bill would […]

The Liberal government has outlined a variety of steps intended to make the much-criticized Access to Information system work better, including new guidance on disclosure of historical records. But the new plan makes it clear any changes to the federal access law will have to wait until after the next formal review, set to begin […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — During the presidential election four years ago, the Equal Ground Education Fund hired over 100 people to go door-to-door and attend festivals, college homecomings and other events to help register voters across Florida. Their efforts for this year’s elections look much different. A state law passed last year forced them to stop […]

Canada’s privacy czar and a government official are warning that a Senate bill proposing to block minors from “sexually explicit material” online could apply to streaming services such as Netflix.Philippe Dufresne, the country’s privacy commissioner, says legislators should dramatically narrow the bill’s scope to address concerns about “what will be captured.”Dufresne, along with Owen Ripley, […]

SEATTLE (AP) — A school district, a nurse, and civil rights and youth services organizations sued Thursday to block a new Washington state parental rights law that critics describe as a “forced outing” measure. A conservative megadonor backed the law, which is set to take effect in June. The Democratic-led Legislature overwhelmingly approved it, with […]

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit police lieutenant has been placed on administrative duties after a shouting match in which he told a pro-Palestinian protester to “go back to Mexico.” The encounter Sunday outside Huntington Place in downtown Detroit where President Joe Biden was giving the keynote during an NAACP fundraiser was recorded on police body […]

Quebec newsroom leaders are calling out a new bill to protect politicians from abuse, saying the legislation is excessive and potentially stifling to democratic debate. Media companies — including The Canadian Press, La Presse, Quebecor, and CBC — said Thursday in an open letter to the government that the bill contains measures that “compromise the […]

New for 2023 FIPA sent its first national survey of Commissioners’ approaches to access regime evaluation.

FIPA continues its coalition work signing on with other civil society groups to demand proper consideration for AI regulation. 45 leading civil society organizations, experts and academics released an open letter to Industry, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) Minister François-Philippe Champagne outlining key concerns with the current draft of the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), currently wrapped into […]

FIPA is a member of the Right2YourFace Coalition. Facial recognition technology (FRT) is a type of biometric recognition technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify individuals through their facial features. FRT functions by extracting biometric information based on key facial features and makes comparisons between live and stored biometric templates. Facial recognition software produces […]