BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
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NS Power CEO, staff grilled over breach that allowed theft of 280,000 customers’ data
Provincial politicians took aim at Nova Scotia Power during a legislative committee meeting this morning, saying the utility owes ratepayers answers after a cybersecurity breach gave thieves access to data belonging to 280,000 customers. The utility’s CEO and other staff were grilled by the public accounts committee about how the breach happened and what the…
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Federal bill includes new security powers to tighten border, immigration system
Proposed federal legislation would give authorities new powers to search mail, make it easier for officials to pause or cancel immigration applications and expand the Canadian Coast Guard’s role to include security activities. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree introduced the Strong Borders Act in the House of Commons on Tuesday. The government says the wide-ranging,…
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What cases are left on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket? Here’s a look
WASHINGTON (AP) — The sequence of events is familiar: A lower court judge blocks a part of President Donald Trump’s agenda, an appellate panel refuses to put the order on hold while the case continues and the Justice Department turns to the Supreme Court. Trump administration lawyers have filed emergency appeals with the nation’s highest…
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Fisheries Department scrambled to claw back ‘ill timed’ lobster tweet
OTTAWA — Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Others can’t see the hurricane for the lobsters. On Sept. 24, around 9 a.m. Atlantic time, a few hours after Hurricane Fiona had slowed slightly into a post-tropical cyclone and slammed into Nova Scotia, the federal Fisheries Department issued two preplanned posts on Twitter…
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German government pushes back on call to close Facebook page
BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Monday pushed back against a demand by the country’s data protection commissioner to take down its Facebook page over data privacy concerns. The commissioner, Ulrich Kelber, said Wednesday that he had given the government’s press office four weeks to shut down the page. “All public agencies have a…
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Black activist who became PM of Dominica was target of RCMP dirty tricks: documents
OTTAWA — It has long been known that the RCMP Security Service took a keen interest in Roosevelt “Rosie” Douglas, a Black rights activist who attended school in Canada and would go on to be prime minister of Dominica. But recently released records reveal just how far the Mounties would go in the early 1970s…
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School boards urge Ontario to lift moratorium on closures
TORONTO — Ontario’s public school boards are calling on the province to lift a moratorium on school closures and to finally complete a review — started six years ago — of how those closure decisions get made. The previous Liberal government first promised the review and enacted the moratorium in 2017, when it was under…
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Indigo employees’ data breached in ransomware attack
A ransomware attack compromised the data of current and former employees at Canada’s biggest bookstore chain, Indigo Books & Music Inc. says. In a statement on its website, Indigo said the breach on Feb. 8 left no indication that customers’ personal information, such as credit card numbers, had been accessed, but that “some employee data…
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Privacy commissioners looking into TikTok should investigate other apps: expert
TORONTO — At least one public policy expert says an investigation into TikTok launched by Canada’s Privacy Commissioner should prompt a similar look into other apps. Vass Bednar, the executive director of the Master of Public Policy in Digital Society at McMaster University, says issues around consent and data collection surround several TikTok rivals. While…
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TikTok investigation sign of data privacy, geopolitical climate: academics
TORONTO — An investigation into TikTok launched by Canada’s Privacy Commissioner this week is a symptom of growing unrest around data privacy, but also a sign of the extent of geopolitical tensions, academics say. The investigation revealed Thursday by the federal privacy watchdog and its counterparts in B.C., Alberta and Quebec is meant to delve…