BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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After judge’s ruling, HHS authorized to resume sharing some Medicaid data with deportation officers
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s health department starting Monday can resume sharing the personal data of certain Medicaid enrollees with deportation officials, according to a federal judge’s ruling, in a blow to states that had sued the administration over privacy concerns. But the judge’s decision, issued last Monday, strictly limits the scope of data…
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Amid merger, Grand Erie Public Health managed one of Ontario’s biggest measles outbreaks. Here’s how.
Grand Erie Public Health was born on the first day of 2025, the result of months of merger talks between the health units that had overseen Haldimand-Norfolk and Brantford-Brant. A week later, as staff were still setting up their new email accounts, the measles virus appeared in the largely rural community southwest of Hamilton. That …
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Big Tech’s fast-expanding plans for data centers are running into stiff community opposition
SPRING CITY, Pa. (AP) — Tech companies and developers looking to plunge billions of dollars into ever-bigger data centers to power artificial intelligence and cloud computing are increasingly losing fights in communities where people don’t want to live next to them, or even near them. Communities across the United States are reading about — and…
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Greater Napanee to consider U.S. cross-border cellphone policy
When a cellphone or computer contains sensitive government documents, it can be a significant concern, even at the municipal level, if that device is carried across the border into the United States — particularly in light of the broad authority given to U.S. border officers to inspect electronic devices. On Thursday, Jun. 6, 2025, a…
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Carney vows Canada will meet 2% NATO spending pledge this year
Canada will finally meet its NATO defence spending commitment this year as it confronts an alarming new world of threats, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in Toronto Monday morning. Carney said Canada will rapidly advance its military spending timeline to hit the NATO target of two per cent of national GDP by adding $9 billion…
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Lost RCMP memory key with informant details was offered for sale by criminals: report
The federal privacy watchdog says the RCMP lost a memory key containing personal information about victims, witnesses and informants, and later learned it was being offered for sale by criminals. A detailed report from the office of privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne reveals the RCMP told the watchdog about the breach in March 2022, prompting a…
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U.S. ambassador says Canadians facing device searches, detainment ‘not a pattern’
The American ambassador to Canada is pushing back on Ottawa’s travel advice, saying his country doesn’t search phones at the border and arguing some Americans travelling here are having a tough time. “We welcome Canadians to come in and invest, to spend their hard-earned Canadian dollars at U.S. businesses,” U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told The…
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What it would take to convert a jet from Qatar into Air Force One to safely fly Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump really wants to fly on an upgraded Air Force One — but making that happen could depend on whether he’s willing to cut corners with security. As government lawyers sort out the legal arrangement for accepting a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, another crucial conversation is unfolding…
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Spotty attendance for measles at Norfolk elementary school
Measles continues to be an unwelcome visitor to schools in Norfolk County, causing kids to miss class as the school year enters the home stretch. Staff and students at Houghton Public School — a rural elementary school in southwestern Norfolk — were potentially exposed to measles on two separate occasions in May, with each exposure…
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Supreme Court allows DOGE team to access Social Security systems with data on millions of Americans
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration two victories Friday in cases involving the Department of Government Efficiency, including giving it access to Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans. The justices also separately reined in orders seeking transparency at DOGE, the team once led by billionaire Elon Musk.…
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How Trump’s pick for surgeon general uses her big online following to make money
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next U.S. surgeon general has repeatedly said the nation’s medical, health and food systems are corrupted by special interests and people out to make a profit at the expense of Americans’ health. Yet as Dr. Casey Means has criticized scientists, medical schools and regulators…