BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
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Ontario to make premier, cabinet ministers’ records secret as it tightens FOI laws
Ontario is set to make Premier Doug Ford and cabinet members’ records secret as it “modernizes” freedom-of-information laws, a change the province’s privacy watchdog warns will eviscerate public accountability. Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Minister Stephen Crawford, however, said his government is still “one of the most transparent governments in the history of…
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Environment committee engaging in ‘junior high behaviour’: former climate advisers
Two former advisers on Ottawa’s climate policies say recent antics by parliamentarians at the House of Commons environment committee demonstrate why they resigned from Canada’s independent net-zero advisory body last year. Simon Donner and Catherine Abreu were at the centre of some committee fireworks on Thursday, when Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs tried to move…
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Iran-linked hackers take aim at US and other targets, raising risk of cyberattacks during war
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pro-Iranian hackers are targeting sites in the Middle East and starting to stretch into the United States during the war, raising the risk of American defense contractors, power stations and water plants being swept into a wave of digital chaos that could expand if Tehran’s allies join the fray. Hackers supporting Iran…
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In Rural Manitoba, Violence Often Happens Far From Help, This New Guide Aims to Change That
Brandon University has released a first-of-its-kind resource designed to make it easier for survivors of intimate partner and sexual violence in rural, remote and northern Manitoba to find help, no matter how far they live from major centres. The new Rural, Remote and Northern Manitoba Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Resource Guide brings crisis lines,…
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Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier asks judge to throw out betting charges
NEW YORK (AP) — Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier ’s lawyers are asking a judge to throw out sports gambling charges that have kept him off the court this season, arguing that the government overreached by turning a private dispute over bettors’ use of nonpublic information into a federal case. In a motion to dismiss…
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N.S. premier using false information as reason against updating privacy legislation
As Tim Houston stands in the Nova Scotia legislature, he looks around and begins to address the room. Houston says that when he was first elected premier, there was a freedom of information request that “gave (me) pause.” The premier says he thinks he knows who sent the request in but can’t be sure. The…
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Instacart ends a program where users could see different prices for the same item at the same store
NEW YORK (AP) — Instacart said Monday that it’s ending a program where some customers saw different prices for the same product ordered at the same time from the same store when using the delivery company’s service. The program was meant to help grocers and other retailers learn more about what kinds of prices customers…
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Italy antitrust agency fines Apple $116 million over privacy feature; Apple announces appeal
ROME (AP) — Italy’s antitrust authority fined Apple 98.6 million euros ($116 million) on Monday after determining that operating one of its privacy features restricted App Store competition. Apple said it would appeal the sanction. Apple abused its dominant position with its App Tracking Transparency, ATT, policy, which forces apps to obtain permission before collecting…
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Communication regulator considers changes to extend reach of national alerting system
Rural municipalities, Indigenous organizations and civil society groups are calling for changes to ensure people in remote parts of Canada receive emergency alerts during a crisis. The suggestions to the federal communication regulator are aimed at closing gaps in the National Public Alerting System — more commonly known as Alert Ready — which delivers urgent…
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Ontario looks to expand practical component of teacher education: minister
Changes to how new teachers in Ontario are certified are set to be announced next year and will entail a larger practical component, the education minister is signalling. In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Education Minister Paul Calandra said he is looking at shortening the length of teachers’ college and has been looking…
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Carney has sketched the broad strokes of an AI policy, but details remain vague
At the Paris AI Action Summit in February, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau and other world leaders watched as U.S. Vice President JD Vance took the stage to rail against AI regulation. Vance’s speech — delivered with his face projected on a large screen between the intricately-carved pillars lining the stage at the historic Grand Palais…