Access and Privacy Online

Access and Privacy Online


Foreign actors producing more false content about Alberta separatism: report

Foreign actors are increasingly generating articles, podcasts and social media posts riddled with disinformation about Alberta’s separatist movement, says a new report. The report from a team of researchers, published Wednesday by the Canadian monitoring platform DisinfoWatch, says the campaigns are coming out of Russia and the United States. It says social media influencers with […]

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OpenAI did not respect Canadian privacy laws in developing ChatGPT, probe finds

Federal and provincial watchdogs say OpenAI failed to respect Canadian privacy laws when training its artificial intelligence-powered ChatGPT chatbot. The conclusion came in a report released Wednesday following a joint investigation by federal privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne and his counterparts from British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec. ChatGPT, released in November 2022, is a popular conversation-style […]

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Smith’s adviser speaks about staffer at separatist meeting, Alberta voter list breach

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s chief of staff says a caucus staffer who attended a meeting about what was later found to be a massive data breach thought it was just about a new voter tool. Rob Anderson says in a social media post there’s no way the United Conservative Party caucus staffer could have known […]

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Georgia officials knew chemicals from carpet mills were polluting local water. The people did not

CALHOUN, Ga. (AP) — Growing up in northwest Georgia, Stormy Bost lived her life in the water. During summers she plucked crawdads from the neighborhood creek and played in its cool depths, racing home for dinner to beat the setting sun. Waiting for her were pitchers of sweet tea, which her family brewed using tap […]

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Council passes updated fees and charges bylaw

Crowsnest Pass council approved the municipality’s updated Fees, Rates and Charges Bylaw after reviewing utility rates, development penalties, safety code levies and public access to council meeting recordings. Council gave second and third reading to Bylaw 1255, 2026 during the April 28 regular council meeting. Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kristin Colucci told council the municipality […]

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Zambia blasts the US over a $2 billion health deal in exchange for critical minerals

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zambia is accusing the United States of tying a $2 billion deal for critical health assistance to access to the southern African nation’s rich mineral assets, and calling the outgoing U.S. ambassador’s allegations of corruption “mischievous” and “undiplomatic.” The comments by Zambia’s foreign affairs minister, Mulambo Haimbe, on Monday brought into […]

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Justice Department seeks the names of 2020 election workers in Georgia’s Fulton County

ATLANTA (AP) — The Department of Justice is seeking the names of every person who worked in the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that Donald Trump has long accused of widespread voter fraud he falsely says cost him victory against Joe Biden in the state that year. Lawyers for the county […]

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Scholar tracks uptick in Iran threats on diaspora, others question deporting official

A scholar researching transnational repression says he’s seeing an uptick in Iran’s regime threatening diaspora in Canada, as experts suggest Ottawa get tougher on countries targeting communities in Canada. “We can expect, in 2026, transnational repression against Iranian-Canadians to get significantly worse,” University of Ottawa professor Thomas Juneau told the House subcommittee on international human […]

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Alberta UCP staff attended meeting about voter database before app was shut down

Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party caucus says staff attended a separatist group’s virtual meeting about its website two weeks before the site became the focus of investigations into a massive breach of personal data. Caucus spokesperson Shanna Schulhauser said Tuesday that staff regularly attend meetings of political interest and were told the database was above […]

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‘They just wanted to get it done’: New freedom of information rules keep Ontario in the dark, warns MPP

How much should the public be able to see inside the government? Ontario’s latest budget bill, passed last week, is putting that question front and centre. The spring budget, Bill 97, changes freedom of information laws so that citizens can no longer use freedom of information requests to get records from the premier’s or cabinet […]

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Data show racial, language disparities in mandatory Ontario teacher math test

Results of a math test teacher candidates in Ontario must pass in order to be certified show striking disparities across language, age and racial groups, the province’s teachers’ federation says. The Ontario Teachers’ Federation, which advocates for more than 160,000 teachers in the province, requested roughly a year’s worth of success rates for the test […]

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New Mexico seeks child safety restrictions on Meta apps and algorithms in trial’s 2nd phase

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico state prosecutors are seeking fundamental changes to Meta’s social media apps and algorithms to safeguard children in the second phase of a landmark trial on allegations that platforms such as Instagram have created a public safety hazard. Opening statements began Monday in the three-week bench trial to decide […]

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