BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
20250927 Access and Privacy Online
This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, September 27th.
We hope everyone’s had a great Right to Know Week.
It’s been a big one — with privacy commissioners at both the national and provincial level releasing major findings, and a wave of stories that give us plenty to dig into.
We’ll begin here in British Columbia, where an unprecedented audit of one of the province’s largest public bodies found serious failures to comply with access to information law. Then we’ll scan access stories from across the country.
On the privacy side, TikTok faces stinging criticism from federal and provincial watchdogs for failing to protect children’s data. We’ll also track the fallout from recent data breaches, including new legislation in Nova Scotia.
Internationally, the United States continues to rewrite long-standing rules, with Trump and his allies pressing to expand presidential power, criminalize antifascist sentiment, and gain access to sensitive voter information. And we’ll close with updates on Canada’s own controversial Bills C-2 and C-4, which FIPA will be following closely in the weeks ahead.
Also available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Podchaser, Boomplay.
Writing: Shaun Fisk | Production: Patrick Farnsworth | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder
Send comments to: FIPAOnline @ fipa.bc.ca
You can support these efforts by subscribing or donating.
Full Show Links
UBC FOI Audit
- UBC failed to meet FOI response timelines in 90% of requests, audit finds
- Audit of The University of British Columbia’s duty to assist
- Video summarizing report:
- Fact sheet summary:
- Guidance on the freedom of information process for public bodies:
Access Scan Across Canada
- Escalation of B.C. public service strike hits citizens’ services and gaming branch
- Alberta’s ban on police ‘carding’ expires, but province says practice still outlawed
- N.S. was aiming for 500 hosts on the home-sharing program that resulted in 60 leases
- Billions in federal buildings, roads and other assets at risk from climate change
- Summer program trains young people to tackle water crises
TikTok Privacy Investigation
- Privacy watchdogs say TikTok’s efforts to protect kids were ‘inadequate’
- Joint investigation of TikTok Pte. Ltd. by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta
- Joint investigation of TikTok Pte Ltd.
Privacy Headlines Across Canada
- Premier Smith’s Alberta Next panel met with praise, pushed to act in Grande Prairie
- N.S. wants to limit access to SINs, prohibit protests on logging roads
- N.S. legislature opens: Opposition vows to pressure government on power bills
- Former bank employee faces charges after allegedly accessing prime minister’s data
- Ottawa planning ‘refreshed’ AI strategy, data protection bill
Trump’s America and Global Impact
- Trump asks the Supreme Court for an emergency order to remove Lisa Cook from the Fed board
- Supreme Court will weigh expanding Trump’s power to shape agencies by overturning 90-year-old ruling
- US Justice Department official ordered to drop inquiry into Sandy Hook lawsuit against Alex Jones
- What to know after Trump classifies decentralized antifa movement as a domestic terror organization
- California bans most law enforcement officers from wearing masks during operations
- Judge blocks USDA from collecting data about SNAP applicants in 21 states
- South Carolina fires election chief as state deals with Trump administration request for voter data
- Immigration agent who shot man in Chicago-area traffic stop says injuries were ‘nothing major’
- Lax gun laws in Brazil and US help arm Brazil’s organized crime, study finds
Bills C-2 and C-4
- Progressive groups rally ‘common front’ to march, challenge elements of Carney agenda
- Bill C-4 privacy enhancements are modest and fail to regulate politicians’ use of social bots
To Protect your rights, ask MPs to:
- Stop Bill C-2
- Amend Bill C-4
This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, September 27th.
We hope everyone’s had a great Right to Know Week.
It’s been a big one — with privacy commissioners at both the national and provincial level releasing major findings, and a wave of stories that give us plenty to dig into.
We’ll begin here in British Columbia, where an unprecedented audit of one of the province’s largest public bodies found serious failures to comply with access to information law. Then we’ll scan access stories from across the country.
On the privacy side, TikTok faces stinging criticism from federal and provincial watchdogs for failing to protect children’s data. We’ll also track the fallout from recent data breaches, including new legislation in Nova Scotia.
Internationally, the United States continues to rewrite long-standing rules, with Trump and his allies pressing to expand presidential power, criminalize antifascist sentiment, and gain access to sensitive voter information. And we’ll close with updates on Canada’s own controversial Bills C-2 and C-4, which FIPA will be following closely in the weeks ahead.
Also available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, ListenNotes, Podchaser, Boomplay.
Writing: Shaun Fisk | Production: Patrick Farnsworth | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder
Send comments to: FIPAOnline @ fipa.bc.ca
You can support these efforts by subscribing or donating.
Full Show Links
UBC FOI Audit
- UBC failed to meet FOI response timelines in 90% of requests, audit finds
- Audit of The University of British Columbia’s duty to assist
- Video summarizing report:
- Fact sheet summary:
- Guidance on the freedom of information process for public bodies:
Access Scan Across Canada
- Escalation of B.C. public service strike hits citizens’ services and gaming branch
- Alberta’s ban on police ‘carding’ expires, but province says practice still outlawed
- N.S. was aiming for 500 hosts on the home-sharing program that resulted in 60 leases
- Billions in federal buildings, roads and other assets at risk from climate change
- Summer program trains young people to tackle water crises
TikTok Privacy Investigation
- Privacy watchdogs say TikTok’s efforts to protect kids were ‘inadequate’
- Joint investigation of TikTok Pte. Ltd. by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta
- Joint investigation of TikTok Pte Ltd.
Privacy Headlines Across Canada
- Premier Smith’s Alberta Next panel met with praise, pushed to act in Grande Prairie
- N.S. wants to limit access to SINs, prohibit protests on logging roads
- N.S. legislature opens: Opposition vows to pressure government on power bills
- Former bank employee faces charges after allegedly accessing prime minister’s data
- Ottawa planning ‘refreshed’ AI strategy, data protection bill
Trump’s America and Global Impact
- Trump asks the Supreme Court for an emergency order to remove Lisa Cook from the Fed board
- Supreme Court will weigh expanding Trump’s power to shape agencies by overturning 90-year-old ruling
- US Justice Department official ordered to drop inquiry into Sandy Hook lawsuit against Alex Jones
- What to know after Trump classifies decentralized antifa movement as a domestic terror organization
- California bans most law enforcement officers from wearing masks during operations
- Judge blocks USDA from collecting data about SNAP applicants in 21 states
- South Carolina fires election chief as state deals with Trump administration request for voter data
- Immigration agent who shot man in Chicago-area traffic stop says injuries were ‘nothing major’
- Lax gun laws in Brazil and US help arm Brazil’s organized crime, study finds
Bills C-2 and C-4
- Progressive groups rally ‘common front’ to march, challenge elements of Carney agenda
- Bill C-4 privacy enhancements are modest and fail to regulate politicians’ use of social bots
To Protect your rights, ask MPs to:
- Stop Bill C-2
- Amend Bill C-4