BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
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20 states sue after the Trump administration releases private Medicaid data to deportation officials
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it turned over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials last month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleged on Tuesday, saying he and 19 other states’ attorneys general have sued over the move. Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s advisers ordered the…
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Major reports about how climate change affects the US are removed from websites
WASHINGTON (AP) — Legally mandated U.S. national climate assessments seem to have disappeared from the federal websites built to display them, making it harder for state and local governments and the public to learn what to expect in their backyards from a warming world. Scientists said the peer-reviewed authoritative reports save money and lives. Websites…
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More than 300 charged in $14.6 billion health care fraud schemes takedown, Justice Department says
WASHINGTON (AP) — State and federal prosecutors have charged more than 320 people and uncovered nearly $15 billion in false claims in what they described Monday as the largest coordinated takedown of health care fraud schemes in Justice Department history. Law enforcement seized more than $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets…
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Police in York Region warn of extortion scams targeting Chinese community
Police north of Toronto say scammers posing as Chinese law enforcement officials are targeting the Chinese community in York Region and demanding money from victims for fabricated legal issues. York Regional Police are warning the community about a recent surge in police extortion schemes in which scammers make victims believe that they are facing legal…
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Budget refusal will cause more access-to-information delays: N.S. info commissioner
Nova Scotia’s information commissioner says the province’s rejection of her appeal for more staff will leave citizen requests to access government documents languishing in a years-long wait-list. “I was disheartened and disappointed to learn we did not get any additional budgeted positions, despite our four-year-long backlog of cases to review,” Tricia Ralph said in a…
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Georgia’s largest county is still repairing damage from January cyberattack
Georgia’s largest county is still repairing damage inflicted on its government a month ago by hackers who shut down office phone lines, left clerks unable to issue vehicle registrations or marriage licenses and threatened to publicly release sensitive data they claimed to have stolen unless officials paid ransom. The ransomware syndicate LockBit took credit for…
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Judge blocks Texas from collecting info on transgender children receiving gender-affirming care
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge on Friday temporarily blocked state Attorney General Ken Paxton from forcing an LGBTQ+ advocacy group to hand over information about transgender children receiving gender-affirming medical care. The ruling came just one day after PFLAG National went to court to try to stop Paxton’s office from getting the information.…
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Supreme Court of Canada says a computer user’s IP address deserves privacy protection
The Supreme Court of Canada says police need judicial authorization to obtain a computer user’s internet protocol address, calling the identification number a crucial link between a person and their online activity. The top court’s 5-4 ruling came Friday in a case that began in 2017, when Calgary police investigated fraudulent online transactions from a…
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How the Toronto library is recovering from a cyberattack, one book at a time
Hundreds of thousands of books have been freed from a months-long purgatory as scores of staffers race to get them out of storage and back on shelves following a cyberattack that felled the Toronto Public Library’s computer systems in October. Workers at a Scarborough distribution hub have cleared more than 10 tractor-trailers full of boxes…
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Ontario privacy commissioner looking into UWaterloo vending machines after complaints
Ontario’s privacy commissioner is looking into a southwestern university’s campus-wide installation of more than two dozen vending machines that came equipped with facial analysis technology – a situation that drew concerns from students earlier this month. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario said it has received two complaints on the matter…
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Montana judge declares 3 laws restricting abortion unconstitutional, including a 20-week limit
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Three Montana laws restricting abortion access are unconstitutional, including a ban on abortions beyond 20 weeks of gestation, a state judge said in granting a motion for summary judgment filed by Planned Parenthood of Montana. The 20-week ban and the two other laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2021 —…