BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
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Number of St. Catharines properties in tax arrears soars under current council
The number of property tax accounts in arrears has risen sharply in St. Catharines since 2022, according to documents obtained by The Pointer through a Freedom of Information request. The disturbing increase aligns with the controversial hikes in municipal tax rates introduced by the current City Council. Residents of Niagara’s largest city were shocked in…
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Groups fear Israeli proposal for controlling aid in Gaza will forcibly displace people
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel has blocked aid from entering Gaza for two months and says it won’t allow food, fuel, water or medicine into the besieged territory until it puts in place a system giving it control over the distribution. But officials from the U.N. and aid groups say proposals Israel has floated…
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Driver of Ctour Holiday van involved in Idaho crash was licensed in California
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. (AP) — Idaho State Police said Saturday that the driver of the tour van involved in a deadly collision with a pickup truck was licensed in California and the company that organized the trip was Ctour Holiday LLC, a large tour operator that provides international travel services. The pickup truck driver and…
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Home Depot gave personal data to Meta without valid customer consent: watchdog
OTTAWA — Retailer Home Depot shared details from electronic receipts with Meta, which owns the social media platform Facebook, without the knowledge or consent of customers, the federal privacy watchdog has found. In a report released Thursday, privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne said the data included encoded email addresses and in-store purchase information. The commissioner’s investigation…
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Impersonators posing as homeowners linked to 32 fraud cases in Ontario and B.C.
Mortgage and title fraudsters who impersonate homeowners and tenants have targeted at least 32 properties in Ontario and British Columbia, investigators and official warnings suggest. Insurance investigator Brian King, president and CEO of King International Advisory Group, said his firm had received 30 such claims in Ontario. They include six instances of “total title fraud”…
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Feds say ‘no willing partners’ to bring fire codes onto First Nations — including AFN
OTTAWA — The federal government does not have a willing partner to find a way to introduce fire codes on First Nation reserves, a newly released document shows. The senior director for the Indigenous Fire Marshal Service, however, says there are steps Ottawa can take now to better protect communities. “Doing nothing is not an…
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South Dakota’s Noem says cell phone number hacked
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Monday that her personal cell phone number has been hacked and blamed it on the release of her Social Security number amid hundreds of documents that the House Jan. 6 committee released last year. The Republican governor, who is weighing a 2024 White House bid,…
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Washington county mistakenly releases 460,000 partial SSNs
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A county in Washington inadvertently released nearly half a million partial Social Security Numbers when responding to a routine public records request in December, according to county officials. The Pierce County Auditor’s Office, which mistakenly released the sensitive data, said in a news release that the human error was quickly spotted…
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J&J subsidiary to pay $9.75M to resolve kickback allegations
BOSTON (AP) — A subsidiary of health care company Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to settle allegations that it violated federal and state law by providing free products to a surgeon to induce him to use its products in procedures, prosecutors said Friday. Under the settlement with DePuy Synthes, the…
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SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK: Justices yet to decide any cases
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has never been so slow. For the first time, the justices have gone more than three months without resolving any cases in which they heard arguments, since their term began in early October. By this point, they always had decided at least one case, and usually a handful, according…