BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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Former University of Winnipeg regent who quit in protest cited governance concerns
Twelve days after a University of Winnipeg board member resigned in protest over governance concerns at the cash-strapped campus, his ex-colleagues approved a balanced budget that rests on continued austerity measures. The board of regents — a group of appointees who are alumni, administrators and public representatives, among others, and in charge of policy making…
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Daily contact, a Ford phone call: docs reveal Ontario government’s close relationship with Enbridge
In early October 2023, a senior bureaucrat in the Ontario Energy Ministry emailed an Enbridge official with a “sort of urgent” request. Newly released internal documents show that Premier Doug Ford had called the natural gas giant that month to discuss delays in obtaining a natural gas connection for a facility whose name is redacted…
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Quebec language watchdog now says it’s OK to use ‘go’ to support sports teams
Quebec’s language watchdog has changed its tune on whether it’s acceptable to use the word “go” to cheer on sports teams. In a new guideline posted in its online dictionary, the Office québécois de la langue française says that while “allez” is the preferred term, it’s now “partially legitimized” to use the English word to…
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Microsoft says it hasn’t been able to shake Russian state hackers
BOSTON (AP) — Microsoft said Friday it’s still trying to evict the elite Russian government hackers who broke into the email accounts of senior company executives in November and who it said have been trying to breach customer networks with stolen access data. The hackers from Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service used data obtained in…
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Officers need warrants to use aircraft, zoom lenses to surveil areas around homes, Alaska court says
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant before using aircraft to scope out the area around a person’s home with binoculars or cameras with zoom lenses, the state’s highest court ruled in a decision released Friday. The Alaska Supreme Court ruling comes in a case that dates to 2012, when…
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Biden says he’ll sign proposed legislation to ban TikTok if Congress passes it
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday endorsed legislation that could lead to the popular video-sharing app TikTok being banned in the United States, a move that comes amid growing concern in Washington about keeping Americans’ data out of China’s hands. The legislation that passed through the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously…
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B.C. class action alleges menstruation cycle tracking app breached users’ privacy
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge says a class-action lawsuit can move forward over alleged privacy breaches against a company that made an app to track users’ menstrual and fertility cycles. The ruling published online Friday says the action against Flo Health Inc. alleges the company shared users’ highly personal health information with third-parties, including…
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Behind the doors of a Chinese hacking company, a sordid culture fueled by influence, alcohol and sex
BEIJING (AP) — The hotel was spacious. It was upscale. It had a karaoke bar. The perfect venue, the CEO of the Chinese hacking company thought, to hold a Lunar New Year banquet currying favor with government officials. There was just one drawback, his top deputy said. “Who goes there?” the deputy wrote. “The girls…
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Ford promises to build as many jails as needed to keep criminals behind bars
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government will build as many jails as needed to keep criminals behind bars “for a long time.” Ford was asked about overcrowding in Ontario jails during a news conference on an unrelated announcement in Milton, Ont., this morning. Data obtained by The Canadian Press through freedom-of-information laws shows the…
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Voters backed abortion rights. Yet Kansas could make doctors ask patients why they want abortions
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas moved closer Thursday to requiring abortion providers to ask patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies and report the answers to the state. It would join other states with Republican legislatures that ban most abortions even though Kansas voters have affirmed abortion rights. The House approved, in an 81-39…
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NYC public servants accused of stealing identities of homeless in pandemic fraud scheme
NEW YORK (AP) — Several New York City employees were arrested Thursday for their alleged role in a scheme to steal the identities of homeless shelter residents and defraud a pandemic-era relief program. Manhattan prosecutors brought charges against 18 people, including five employees of the city’s homeless services agency, an NYPD officer, an MTA worker,…