BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
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CUPE delegation meets with Esterhazy council during regular meeting
A delegation made up of CUPE 5428 members met with Esterhazy Town Council during their regular meeting on April 23. While Council did make good on meeting with the union, Mayor Bot called for the delegation to appear in camera, and that only CUPE 5428 members be in attendance. “On our agenda this evening is…
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Arbitrator rules company breached worker’s privacy with drug and alcohol test
An arbitrator found a contractor on the $18 billion LNG Canada project in Kitimat violated a worker’s right to privacy and bodily integrity when he underwent a drug and alcohol test after a minor injury. “I conclude that (Altrad Services Ltd.) did not establish a significant incident warranting an inquiry into post-incident testing and would…
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Iowa governor sues the Des Moines Register to stop request of emails she claims are protected
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s governor on Friday sued the Des Moines Register over the newspaper’s open records request, asking the court to validate her office’s withholding of certain emails she claims are protected. A Register reporter submitted a records request in February to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office, according to the complaint. In response,…
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Watchdog’s relations with spy community ‘particularly strained’ over last year
OTTAWA — Newly released documents say the intelligence community’s relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a “level of resistance” to scrutiny. The assessment appears in briefing materials prepared for Canada’s top public servant in advance of a late January meeting with the chair of the National…
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Microsoft will pay $20M to settle U.S. charges of illegally collecting children’s data
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft will pay a fine of $20 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it illegally collected and retained the data of children who signed up to use its Xbox video game console. The agency charged that Microsoft gathered the data without notifying parents or obtaining their consent, and that…
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Extent of N.S. software breach still unknown, Microsoft blames ransomware gang
HALIFAX — Microsoft security experts say hackers affiliated with the notorious Clop ransomware group are behind an attack on a third-party file sharing system that resulted in the theft of personal data belonging to Nova Scotians. The Nova Scotia government said it is still trying to determine how many people had their data stolen in…
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Nova Scotia investigating theft of personal info through file transfer service MoveIt
The Nova Scotia government says it is investigating the theft of personal information stolen through a global privacy breach to a third-party file transfer system the province was using. The province has yet to determine what information may have been taken or how many Nova Scotians could be affected by the breach to software company…
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Why are people in Britain talking about Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages?
LONDON (AP) — Critics accuse the British administration of running “government by WhatsApp” because of the popularity of the messaging app with politicians and officials. So it feels inevitable that a tussle over WhatsApp messages is at the heart of Britain’s official inquiry into how the country handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of messages exchanged…
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Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools ‘due to vulgarity or violence’
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah after a parent frustrated by efforts to ban materials from schools convinced a suburban district that some Bible verses were too vulgar or violent for younger children. And the Book of Mormon could be next. The 72,000-student Davis…
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Amazon to pay $31 million in privacy violation penalties for Alexa voice assistant and Ring camera
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon agreed Wednesday to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids’ voice and location data recorded by its popular Alexa voice assistant. Separately, the company agreed to pay $5.8 million in customer refunds…