BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
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Search Alberta oil and gas company municipal tax arrears
The IJF has identified nearly 600 Alberta companies responsible for millions of dollars of municipal tax arrears and unpaid leases to landowners. Unpaid oil and gas property taxes have created an increasingly large burden for local governments in Alberta. Rural municipalities reported companies owed $81 million in cumulative tax arrears in 2018. As of the…
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France dumps Zoom and Teams as Europe seeks digital autonomy from the US
LONDON (AP) — In France, civil servants will ditch Zoom and Teams for a homegrown video conference system. Soldiers in Austria are using open source office software to write reports after the military dropped Microsoft Office. Bureaucrats in a German state have also turned to free software for their administrative work. Around Europe, governments and…
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British department store Harrods warns customers that some personal details taken in data breach
LONDON (AP) — Harrods, the luxury British department store, has warned some customers that their personal data may have been taken in a breach of its online systems. The company said late Friday that some names and contact details of its online customers were taken after one of its third-party provider systems was compromised. “We…
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Return of Winnipeg’s reduced-speed school zones and fines brings calls for changes from drivers
On a bright and clear September morning, drivers squint when they enter the most-ticketed school zone in Winnipeg. The 30 km/h sign on Talbot Avenue that warns oncoming traffic about a reduced speed limit behind River Elm School is harshly backlit, making it difficult to see. “I see people get ticketed all the time,” said…
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Wellesley council to approve permanent camera system for livestreaming of Applejacks games at Wellesley Recreation Complex
The Township of Wellesley will likely approve the installation of a permanent camera system at the Wellesley Recreation Complex for the livestreaming of Wellesley Applejacks games after a streaming deal was reached between the Applejacks, the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) and NBC Sportsengine last year. At Wellesley council’s Sept. 16 committee of the whole…
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Electronics dropoff planned next week
Fort William First Nation residents will have three days next week to unload unwanted electronic equipment at a special depot. The depot at the community’s youth centre parking lot will accept computers, printers, mobile phones, light bulbs and electric cables, a FWFN community event bulletin says. It’s going be available Monday to Wednesday, the bulletin…
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Watchdog says N.S. government bill would remove key sections of transparency law
The Nova Scotia government has tabled legislation that could weaken a key section of the province’s transparency law. If adopted, the bill would remove what a provincial watchdog described as a crucial portion of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The bill would also extend deadlines for the release of government records…
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Saudi Arabia’s crown prince freezes rents in Riyadh for 5 years after prices rapidly rose
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince on Thursday ordered rental prices on commercial and residential properties in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, to be frozen for five years. The decision by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman comes as rental prices have rapidly risen in Riyadh after the coronavirus pandemic and as the…
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Instagram’s ‘deliberate design choices’ make it unsafe for teens despite Meta promises, report says
Despite years of congressional hearings, lawsuits, academic research, whistleblowers and testimony from parents and teenagers about the dangers of Instagram, Meta’s wildly popular app has failed to protect children from harm, with “woefully ineffective” safety measures, according to a new report from former employee and whistleblower Arturo Bejar and four nonprofit groups. Meta’s efforts at…
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Federal Bureau of Prisons moves to end union protections for its workers
The federal Bureau of Prisons said Thursday it is canceling a collective bargaining agreement with its workers and stripping them of union rights, the latest move by the Trump administration to gut labor protections for federal employees. Director William K. Marshall III told the agency’s nearly 35,000 employees that the union, the Council of Prison…