This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, August 9th.   Even with a light news week as Canadians get back from the August Long Weekend, there are privacy and access stories of note. The federal privacy commissioner is now investigating the WestJet cybersecurity breach.  Access to government documents continues to fuel headlines and provide […]

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have “weaponized” the legal and judicial system to oppress women and girls in what amounts to “crimes against humanity,” the independent U.N. investigator on human rights in the country said. Richard Bennett said in a report to the U.N. General Assembly circulated Wednesday that after seizing power in […]

Ontario Premier Doug Ford revealed more details Wednesday about his planned tunnel under Highway 401, even as a feasibility study he’s commissioning has yet to get underway. Speaking at an unrelated transit announcement in Thornhill, Ont., north of Toronto, Ford said his plan is to have a 19.5-metre-wide, three-level tunnel, with one level going eastbound, […]

In response to Ontario’s unprecedented takeover of several school boards, Jewish educators and community leaders are cautiously optimistic about renewed government efforts to address rising antisemitism and Holocaust distortion in schools. “We all know this is a problem,” said Dara Solomon, executive director of the Toronto Holocaust Museum. “We hear it every day. We have […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mother of the man who killed four people at a Manhattan office tower home to the NFL told 911 dispatchers during a 2022 incident when he threatened to kill himself that he suffered from a sports-related concussion and other issues, new information released by Las Vegas police Tuesday revealed. Shane […]

The Northwestern Innovation Centre is providing small and medium-sized Northern Ontario enterprises with a funding opportunity aimed at expanding technology to enhance business operations. The Northern Technology Accelerator Program (NTAP) is a non-repayable grant program that will cover up to 50 per cent of eligible technology costs to a maximum of $10,000. Administered by Blue […]

Two years before the Titan submersible imploded south of Newfoundland, killing five people, Canada’s Fisheries Department sent a letter of support to the sub’s American owner, the U.S. Coast Guard says in a report released Tuesday. The 300-page investigation report says the sinking was preventable. It says the company responsible for organizing the trip, OceanGate, […]

The office of Canada’s privacy commissioner says it has opened an investigation into a cyberattack on WestJet which saw a “malicious actor” gain access to the airline’s systems. The airline said in a statement last month that a “sophisticated, criminal” third party was able to gain access to some personal and travel-related data during the […]

The rats took over James Klein’s backyard this spring. He’d never had a rat problem in the more than two decades he’s lived in Montreal’s Snowdon neighbourhood. But now, when he watches TV in his family room, he sees them out of the corner of his eye, scurrying around outside the glass door leading onto […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The requests have come in letters, emails and phone calls. The specifics vary, but the target is consistent: The U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up an effort to get voter data and other election information from the states. Over the past three months, the department’s voting section has requested copies […]

Each year, Statistics Canada publishes data on the number and types of criminal incidents occurring across the country. They also calculate and release a Crime Severity Index, which is a summary measure of the volume and severity of crimes reported to police in various areas, provinces, and at the national level. In this index, all […]

In April last year, Niagara Falls elected officials refused to consider a request from Councillor Lori Lococo to review the process for residents to file complaints against their municipal representatives, including the possibility of removing the $500 fee that has been widely criticized as shielding councillors from accountability.  It was admitted by elected officials at […]