Vancouver, December 18, 2019 –  Yesterday, LifeLabs announced a data breach that affects 15 million Canadians. The breach, which primarily impacts clients in BC and Ontario, includes highly sensitive personal information, like medical diagnostic test results and genetic information. The information was breached on October 28, 2019. LifeLabs has paid an unreported sum to cybercriminals […]

This is the first in our series on the privacy promises we can expect from a Liberal minority government. (From Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s ‘Strengthening Privacy for the Digital Age: Proposals to modernize the Personal Information and Protection of Electronic Documents Act’.)  1. Meaningful Consent One of the commitments to increase the powers […]

Privacy violations highlight the need for law reform Earlier this week, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of B.C. (OIPC BC) and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released a joint investigation report that found a B.C. company violated B.C.’s provincial and Canada’s federal privacy laws. While conducting business on high-profile campaigns […]

Previously, we compared access to information and privacy commitments in the platforms of four of Canada’s major federal political parties. Now, we’ll take a look at what we can expect from a Liberal minority government. With the election results in, we now have greater clarity about how Canada will proceed with access to information and […]

By Stanley Tromp Stanley Tromp is a Vancouver independent journalist and author of the book Fallen Behind: Canada’s Access to Information Act in the World Context. Canada’s Access to Information Act of 1982 is an essential law that allows citizens and the media to obtain government records on many vital topics, such as health and […]

How Canada’s major federal political parties compare on issues related to privacy and access to information The table below uses publicly available information contained within the platforms of Canada’s four major political parties: the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, and the Green Party. FIPA is a non-partisan organization and this chart […]

The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is inviting all students, parents, teachers, and concerned members of the public, to join us in exploring the privacy implications of Learning Management Systems (LMS) in B.C.’s public K-12 education system. Many school boards across the province have adopted the use of LMS, including Google’s G […]

From FIPA President Mike Larsen The introduction of the amendments to B.C.’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) contained in section 22 of Bill 35 demonstrate that the government is willing to move forward on legislative reform. And as the all-party special committee who reviewed the Act in 2016 found in their […]

Vancouver, October 7, 2019 –  The Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, announced late Friday that he has accepted the resignation of the Minister of Citizens’ Services, Jinny Sims, due to an ongoing RCMP investigation into her conduct. At this time, precise details into the nature criminal investigation of Minister Sims are unknown. The former […]

Vancouver, September 26, 2019 – As part of Right to Know Week 2019, Independent journalist Stanley Tromp has published the BC Freedom of Information (FOI) News Story Index. The new resource, which received support from the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, is a database that documents significant news items produced using BC’s FOI […]

The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association is looking for a new Executive Director. Our current Executive Director, Sara Neuert, will be leaving FIPA at the end of October, and FIPA is looking for a passionate, knowledgeable leader who is looking to make a difference in the world of information and privacy rights. The […]

It is election season, and the leaders of Canada’s political parties are making promises, presenting platforms, and answering questions about plans and policies. The next Government of Canada will have to take positions on transparency reform, privacy in a digital age, democracy and Big Data, and the regulation of increasingly-intrusive surveillance practices. We want to […]