Your Access and Privacy Online News Summary for Saturday, March 14th. It’s another busy week across Canada’s privacy and transparency landscape.  We’re tracking a major privacy investigation into Loblaw’s PC Optimum program, new conditions allowing TikTok to keep operating in Canada, and growing concerns about facial recognition and workplace AI surveillance.  And on the transparency front, Canada’s Information Commissioner is warning that […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration’s internal watchdog is investigating a whistleblower complaint into what it describes as a former Department of Government Efficiency worker’s potential misuse of data obtained from the Social Security Administration. According to a document the Associated Press obtained Wednesday, the SSA’s inspector general informed the leadership of four congressional […]

GENEVA (AP) — A U.N.-backed panel of independent experts focusing on racial discrimination says racist hate speech by U.S. President Donald Trump and other American political leaders, along with a crackdown on immigration in the United States, have led to “grave human rights violations.” The Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued its […]

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service isn’t disclosing the advice it gave the federal government before Ottawa decided to allow TikTok to keep its Canadian operations. “CSIS encourages all Canadians to proceed cautiously regarding their online presence and to conduct their own research on the type of data being collected and who controls it before joining new social […]

Environmentalists and New Brunswick’s Green Party are calling for more transparency after it took nearly two days for the provincial government to issue a warning about a chemical spill that left drivers south of Fredericton commuting through toxins.  “From stem to stern, their spill response and public transparency and reporting need to be overhauled,” Green […]

The Newfoundland and Labrador government has overhauled its process for awarding contracts after false citations thought to be generated by artificial intelligence turned up in two reports, including one prepared by Deloitte Canada. Vendors bidding on work for the provincial government must now say if they intend to use artificial intelligence in completing the contract, […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The office that enforces ethics standards for attorneys in the nation’s capital has accused Justice Department official Ed Martin of professional misconduct for a threatening letter that he sent to Georgetown Law School’s dean last year, when Martin was the top federal prosecutor for Washington, D.C. Martin was the interim U.S. Attorney […]

The Tyee has spent over half a year trying to figure out how many people are overdosing while they are patients at British Columbia’s hospitals. In February, we published a summary of what we’d managed to learn after filing seven freedom of information requests, or FOIs, and elevating two of those requests to complaints with […]

Ottawa says it will allow TikTok to continue operating in Canada after receiving more security guarantees from the social media company to protect Canadians’ data. The federal government banned TikTok from operating and maintaining a physical presence in Canada in 2024. Ottawa recently asked the Federal Court to set aside that order to permit another […]

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Press freedom in the Americas suffered a “dramatic deterioration” in 2025, a regional watchdog said Tuesday in an assessment of conditions for the profession in 23 countries across the Western Hemisphere. The Miami-based Inter American Press Association, or IAPA, has been publishing an annual freedom of speech list, known as the Chapultepec index, […]

The federal information watchdog says she’s surprised that government proposals for updating the Access to Information Act avoid “the most pressing issue” dogging the system — unacceptable delays in answering requests. Information commissioner Caroline Maynard says most of the complaints her office receives relate to the failure of federal departments and agencies to respond to […]

TikTok is being allowed to continue its operations in Canada after the government wrapped up a national security review.  Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says the decision hinges on key conditions, including for TikTok to bring in stronger protections for minors and the personal information of all Canadians. The minister says the decision will also save […]