Access and Privacy Online

Access and Privacy Online


Richmond to fight B.C. privacy watchdog’s order to remove surveillance cameras

The City of Richmond said it will challenge an order by British Columbia’s privacy watchdog to remove high-definition surveillance cameras at an intersection on the grounds the city lacked authorization to gather private information. It said in a statement that it had “clearly stated” to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C. […]

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Press freedom advocates worry that raid on Washington Post journalist’s home will chill reporting

If the byproduct of a raid on a Washington Post journalist’s home is to deter probing reporting of government action, the Trump administration could hardly have chosen a more compelling target. Hannah Natanson, nicknamed the “federal government whisperer” at the Post for her reporting on President Donald Trump’s changes to the federal workforce, had a […]

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Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit seeking detailed voter information from California

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against California that sought detailed voting records and personal data on its 23 million registered voters, concluding that the government’s request was “unprecedented and illegal.” The Trump administration’s lawsuit, filed last year, contended that California and other states […]

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Council moves ahead on former hospital site amid pushback over pace

Niagara-on-the-Lake council is moving ahead with the recommended next steps for the former hospital on Wellington Street, but not without some debate over whether the town is moving either carefully or too slowly on deciding what to do with the old building — particularly, some say, with an election coming down the pike later this […]

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Eby touts mining, energy projects on India tour, dismisses Bishnoi gang report

British Columbia Premier David Eby said Indian companies and the delegation he is leading in the subcontinent have been holding “extensive discussions” about accessing the province’s mining and energy sectors. Eby, whose six-day trip to India wraps up Saturday, said in a news briefing by video from Mumbai Thursday that the Indian firms they’ve been […]

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Updated testing finds no PCBs in stormwater pond on former St. Catharines GM site, but it might not be a ‘risk-free facility’

Amid intense public scrutiny of the contaminated former General Motors site in St. Catharines, including concerns about an offline filtration system meant to eliminate toxic chemicals from stormwater runoff, the property owner has ordered further lab testing on the northern portion of the 55-acre property, the City has shared.  In a post on the City […]

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Federal privacy commissioner looking into sexualized deepfakes on X platform

The federal privacy commissioner will investigate the proliferation of sexualized deepfakes created by artificial intelligence chatbot Grok and shared on X. “The use of personal information without consent to create deepfakes, including intimate images, is a growing phenomenon that poses serious risks to individuals’ fundamental right to privacy,” Philippe Dufresne said in a news release […]

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Colorado appeals panel skeptical of sentencing for former county clerk who breached election systems

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado appeals panel on Wednesday seemed skeptical that a judge could use former county clerk Tina Peters’ insistence on spreading election conspiracy theories as part of the reason to sentence her to nine years in prison for orchestrating a data breach of election equipment. The three-judge panel was dismissive of many […]

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20260115 Access and Privacy Online

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for January 15th, our first of 2026.  After the holiday break, there’s a lot to catch up on. Across Canada and internationally, we’re seeing familiar themes re-emerge: data breaches with unresolved accountability, governments struggling to balance security, privacy, and transparency, and growing pressure to define how artificial intelligence is governed, or not governed, in practice.  We’ll start in Nova […]

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‘Regrettable’: Winnipeg officer apologizes for taking photo of body, selling drugs

A former Winnipeg police officer who sold drugs to friends and colleagues and took a photo of a dead woman while on duty apologized for “tarnishing” the reputation of the service at his sentencing hearing Tuesday.  Elston Bostock, 49, earlier pleaded guilty to charges including breach of trust, attempting to obstruct justice, drug trafficking and […]

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Trump threatens to halt federal money next month not only to sanctuary cities but also their states

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that starting Feb. 1 he will deny federal funding to any states that are home to local governments resisting his administration’s immigration policies, expanding on previous threats to cut off resources to the so-called sanctuary cities themselves. Such an action could have far-reaching impacts across the U.S., potentially even in […]

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Manitoba shelves plans for teacher exchange program

The Manitoba government has shelved plans to organize teacher exchanges to address workforce shortages and give urban and northern professionals an opportunity to learn from one another. The now-defunct teacher interchange committee was created to bring together bureaucrats, school leaders from Winnipeg and northern Manitoba and representatives from Gakino’amaage: Teach for Canada in 2024-25. Gakino’amaage, […]

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