Access and Privacy Online

Access and Privacy Online


Tennessee university reinstates professor fired for Charlie Kirk post and settles for $500k

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Austin Peay State University has reinstated a professor who was fired for his social media post after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Tennessee school is also paying the teacher $500,000 in the settlement. Austin Peay spokesperson Brian Dunn said Darren Michael returned to his position as a tenured […]

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RCAF commander reports progress on filling recruitment, retention gaps

A substantial entry level pay hike for pilots and the acquisition of new and advanced aircraft are “absolutely” helping to shore up Royal Canadian Air Force pilot retention and morale, says the force’s commander. In a wide-ranging recent interview with The Canadian Press, Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet said she is seeing signs of progress despite […]

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Recall campaign raises concerns over access to city facilities

The Recall Nolan Dyck petition lead is raising concerns this week about access to public-facing space in city owned facilities.  Casey Klein, the applicant for the petition approved by Elections Alberta, says she has concerns about local governance after multiple requests to rent public-facing space were “denied, delayed, or left undocumented.” On Nov. 15, 2025 […]

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Justice Department sues Connecticut and Arizona as part of effort to get voter data from the states

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Officials in Connecticut and Arizona are defending their decision to refuse a request by the U.S. Justice Department for detailed voter information, after their states became the latest to face federal lawsuits over the issue. “Pound sand,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes posted on X, saying the release of the […]

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20251220 Access and Privacy Online

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, December 20th.   As we close out our final news summary of 2025, this week’s stories bring together a familiar set of themes: how access to information exposes public risk, how governments are reshaping decision-making behind closed doors, and how emerging technologies—from artificial intelligence to biometric surveillance—are testing the limits […]

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Former NIH scientist sues Trump administration, claims illegal firing over research cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former leading scientist at the National Institutes of Health sued the Trump administration Tuesday, saying she was illegally fired for warning that abrupt research cuts were endangering patients and public health. The NIH has cut billions of dollars in research projects since President Donald Trump took office in January, bypassing the […]

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Unreadable receipts, missing itineraries: Why did Brampton taxpayers pay more than $20K to send Councillor Rowena Santos and staff to Tokyo & Manila?

Travel documents, including receipts and itineraries, obtained by The Pointer under freedom of information requests have exposed a troubling pattern at the City of Brampton under Mayor Patrick Brown. Expensive flights and hotels, questionable spending on food, drinks and transportation, all in the name of so-called economic development, have become the norm in Brampton.  The […]

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‘Let’s close this request’: FOI docs show PC political staffer tried to prevent information on toxic GM site from being released

A staff member working for the provincial environment minister appears to be responsible for blocking critical information about the toxic former General Motors property in St. Catharines from being released to the public, including details about a filtration system meant to prevent toxic chemicals from leaking off the site. Documents obtained by The Pointer under […]

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Alberta towns see AI data centres as ‘second coming of oil’ — but some worry at what cost

Neil Johnson came home from a conference on artificial intelligence with dollar signs in his eyes. At a council meeting in his home of Newell County a few weeks later, Johnson set about convincing everyone else of the riches he’d caught a glimpse of. “We’ve got an opportunity here that, when you start adding up […]

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Thousands protest Slovak leader Fico over whistleblower office closure and penal code changes

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Thousands rallied across Slovakia on Tuesday to protest the latest moves by the government of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico to dismantle an independent office that protects those who report corruption and other criminal activities and amend the penal code. Rallies took place in 10 communities, including the capital, Bratislava, where […]

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Major AI data centre proposed for Île-des-Chênes

If all goes as planned for one corporate tech collaborative, Île-des-Chênes (IDC) will soon be home to Manitoba’s first major AI data centre. Jet.AI, a Nevada-based provider of GPU (graphics processing unit) infrastructure and AI cloud services, made their formal public announcement on December 4. Jet.AI has joined with Consensus Core Technologies Inc., a company […]

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McGuinty ‘confident’ Canada will hit NATO spending targets

Canada is injecting tens of billions of dollars into defence as it looks to ramp up spending to levels not seen since the Cold War — both to meet its NATO commitments and to juice the domestic economy. But it remains to be seen whether National Defence — a department which the opposition Conservatives point […]

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