BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
20260502 Access and Privacy Online
Your Access and Privacy Online News Summary for Saturday, May 2nd.
This week, we begin with a developing voter privacy story out of Alberta.
Elections Alberta says there was no breach of its own systems — but that a copy of the provincial List of Electors, provided to a legitimate political recipient, may have been used or distributed inappropriately. A court injunction has now ordered the Centurion Project to take down an online database containing voter information, and to identify who received or accessed the list. It is a sharp reminder that voter data is not just campaign infrastructure. It is sensitive personal information about people’s homes, identities, and participation in democracy.
We’ll also look at youth privacy and digital citizenship, Manitoba’s proposed social-media ban for children, a new health research consent system in Nova Scotia, and Ontario’s sweeping changes to freedom-of-information law.
And later, we turn to access and whistleblower stories across Canada, before closing with U.S. and international developments on voter data, political violence, prediction markets, health-data breaches, and child safety online.
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
FIPA Voter Privacy.ca
- House of Commons E-Petition
- Voterprivacy.ca
Voter Data Breach / Developing story
- Alberta Elector List Warning Shows Why Voter Privacy Must Be Protected Wherever It Goes
- UPDATE: Unauthorized Use of List of Electors
- Alleged Inappropriate Distribution of List of Electors
- Judge orders Alberta separatist group to pull down online database of voter information
- Alberta separatist group ordered to take down list of voters, RCMP investigating alleged privacy preach
- Alberta separatist group posts personal information of millions of voters
Canadian Privacy Stories
- School District 10 students learn search and rescue, firefighting skills, and digital citizenship
- Valley Voice – http://www.valleyvoice.ca/
- Proposed social-media ban for Manitoba children gets likes, thumbs-down
- New consent system for Nova Scotians to opt in for clinical trials and other research
Ontario Spotlight
- Ford urged to apologize for personal insults hurled in the legislature
- Ford government’s restrictive and retroactive information clampdown passes
- Local protest part of province-wide movement
- Temiskaming Speaker – https://speaker.northernontario.ca/local-protest-part-of-province-wide-movement/
- Anti-Ford protest about ‘so much more’ than dump
- Petrolia Lambton Independent – https://petrolialambtonindependent.ca/
- Bresee defends Freedom Of Information overhaul as critics warn of sweeping limits on access
- After cancelling investigations into their own conduct, Patrick Brown & Rowena Santos ignore Ombudsman’s direction to reopen probes
- Toronto cop accused in corruption probe to stay behind bars after review
- Essex gives final approval for personal watercraft business to lease space at Colchester Harbour
- Nominations open Friday for reshaped 2026 C-K election
- The Ridgetown Independent News – https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/nominations-open-friday-for-reshaped-2026-c-k-election
- So you want to run for council in Almaguin? Here are 5 things to know
- NorthBayNipissing.com – https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/so-you-want-to-run-for-council-in-almaguin-here-are-5-things-to-know
Canadian Access and Whistleblower Stories
- B.C. energy regulator finds non-compliant black smoke flaring by LNG Canada
- Dozens of Alberta school divisions banned books to comply with provincial order
- Investigative Journalism Foundation – https://theijf.org/article/41-alberta-school-divisions-banned-books-to-comply-with-provincial-order
- Cenovus says oilfield extension off Newfoundland will hike emissions by 21 per cent
- Bring military, spy agencies under federal whistleblower law, review report urges
US and International Headlines
- Prediction markets, filled with 24/7 bets, are regulated differently than traditional gambling
- Groups sue Alaska election officials, allege the sharing of voter data with DOJ was unconstitutional
- Locked Capitol doors and more cash for security are the new normal after Minnesota assassination
- Justice Department’s watchdog is reviewing compliance with the law mandating Epstein files release
- Health data of 500,000 members of a UK project offered for sale online in China
- Indonesia urges social media platforms to disclose the number of accounts closed for users under 16
Other FIPA Updates
- Access and Privacy Online in the Classroom
Your Access and Privacy Online News Summary for Saturday, May 2nd.
This week, we begin with a developing voter privacy story out of Alberta.
Elections Alberta says there was no breach of its own systems — but that a copy of the provincial List of Electors, provided to a legitimate political recipient, may have been used or distributed inappropriately. A court injunction has now ordered the Centurion Project to take down an online database containing voter information, and to identify who received or accessed the list. It is a sharp reminder that voter data is not just campaign infrastructure. It is sensitive personal information about people’s homes, identities, and participation in democracy.
We’ll also look at youth privacy and digital citizenship, Manitoba’s proposed social-media ban for children, a new health research consent system in Nova Scotia, and Ontario’s sweeping changes to freedom-of-information law.
And later, we turn to access and whistleblower stories across Canada, before closing with U.S. and international developments on voter data, political violence, prediction markets, health-data breaches, and child safety online.
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
FIPA Voter Privacy.ca
- House of Commons E-Petition
- Voterprivacy.ca
Voter Data Breach / Developing story
- Alberta Elector List Warning Shows Why Voter Privacy Must Be Protected Wherever It Goes
- UPDATE: Unauthorized Use of List of Electors
- Alleged Inappropriate Distribution of List of Electors
- Judge orders Alberta separatist group to pull down online database of voter information
- Alberta separatist group ordered to take down list of voters, RCMP investigating alleged privacy preach
- Alberta separatist group posts personal information of millions of voters
Canadian Privacy Stories
- School District 10 students learn search and rescue, firefighting skills, and digital citizenship
- Valley Voice – http://www.valleyvoice.ca/
- Proposed social-media ban for Manitoba children gets likes, thumbs-down
- New consent system for Nova Scotians to opt in for clinical trials and other research
Ontario Spotlight
- Ford urged to apologize for personal insults hurled in the legislature
- Ford government’s restrictive and retroactive information clampdown passes
- Local protest part of province-wide movement
- Temiskaming Speaker – https://speaker.northernontario.ca/local-protest-part-of-province-wide-movement/
- Anti-Ford protest about ‘so much more’ than dump
- Petrolia Lambton Independent – https://petrolialambtonindependent.ca/
- Bresee defends Freedom Of Information overhaul as critics warn of sweeping limits on access
- After cancelling investigations into their own conduct, Patrick Brown & Rowena Santos ignore Ombudsman’s direction to reopen probes
- Toronto cop accused in corruption probe to stay behind bars after review
- Essex gives final approval for personal watercraft business to lease space at Colchester Harbour
- Nominations open Friday for reshaped 2026 C-K election
- The Ridgetown Independent News – https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/nominations-open-friday-for-reshaped-2026-c-k-election
- So you want to run for council in Almaguin? Here are 5 things to know
- NorthBayNipissing.com – https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/so-you-want-to-run-for-council-in-almaguin-here-are-5-things-to-know
Canadian Access and Whistleblower Stories
- B.C. energy regulator finds non-compliant black smoke flaring by LNG Canada
- Dozens of Alberta school divisions banned books to comply with provincial order
- Investigative Journalism Foundation – https://theijf.org/article/41-alberta-school-divisions-banned-books-to-comply-with-provincial-order
- Cenovus says oilfield extension off Newfoundland will hike emissions by 21 per cent
- Bring military, spy agencies under federal whistleblower law, review report urges
US and International Headlines
- Prediction markets, filled with 24/7 bets, are regulated differently than traditional gambling
- Groups sue Alaska election officials, allege the sharing of voter data with DOJ was unconstitutional
- Locked Capitol doors and more cash for security are the new normal after Minnesota assassination
- Justice Department’s watchdog is reviewing compliance with the law mandating Epstein files release
- Health data of 500,000 members of a UK project offered for sale online in China
- Indonesia urges social media platforms to disclose the number of accounts closed for users under 16
Other FIPA Updates
- Access and Privacy Online in the Classroom