Access and Privacy Online

Access and Privacy Online


Illinois officials investigate license-plate data shared with police seeking woman who had abortion

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois secretary of state on Thursday asked for an investigation into a suburban Chicago police department after learning that it violated state law by sharing data from automatic license-plate readers with a Texas sheriff seeking a woman who had an abortion. Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias asked the attorney general […]

Read More


Some Newfoundland hydrogen companies behind in bills as industry hype ‘boils off’

Newfoundland and Labrador is owed millions of dollars in fees from green energy companies, underlining growing doubts about whether promises of major projects and multi-billion dollar investments will pan out.  Six companies are vying to create new operations in the province that would use wind energy to produce hydrogen for exports overseas. Figures obtained by […]

Read More


Controversial Alberta private health centre helped behind the scenes by Airdrie mayor, documents reveal

Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown provided extensive behind the scenes help to a controversial private health care centre, according to emails obtained by the Investigative Journalism Foundation. The City of Airdrie has publicly claimed it did not help develop a proposal for the centre, which would be Alberta’s first urgent care centre not run by the […]

Read More


Louisiana AG investigating CVS for sending mass text messages lobbying against legislation

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Thursday she is investigating whether pharmaceutical giant CVS improperly used customers’ personal information to send out text messages lobbying against a proposed state law. Murrill also said she plans to issue a cease-and-desist letter to the company to stop the messages. As lawmakers debated […]

Read More


Ford government obfuscated Greenbelt records through code words: commissioner

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government broke its legal, record-keeping obligations amid its now-reversed decision to open up parts of the protected Greenbelt lands for housing, the province’s information and privacy commissioner has found.  Political staff were using code words to thwart document requests and left a surprisingly small paper trail for such a consequential policy, […]

Read More


Supreme Court of Canada to hear appeal in long-running Facebook privacy case

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to review a ruling that concluded Facebook broke federal privacy law by failing to adequately inform users of risks to their data when using the popular social media platform. Last September, the Federal Court of Appeal found Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms, did not obtain the meaningful […]

Read More


Legal experts gear up to challenge Bill 5 as First Nations pledge to ‘close Ontario’s economy’

Rallies for endangered species. Protests led by First Nations. A filibuster from the NDP. More than 4,000 amendments tabled by the Liberals. Two committee hearings with Indigenous leaders, legal experts, labour representatives, and more. Despite all of it, Bill 5 passed. On June 5, as Ontarians across the province struggled to breathe through smoke-filled air […]

Read More


Montana Supreme Court declares 2021 abortion restrictions unconstitutional

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional several laws restricting abortion access, including a ban beyond 20 weeks of gestation. The measures approved by Republican lawmakers in 2021 had been blocked since a judge issued a preliminary injunction against them that year. While the case […]

Read More


New AI minister says Canada won’t ‘over-index’ on AI regulation

Canada’s new minister of artificial intelligence said Tuesday he’ll put less emphasis on AI regulation and more on finding ways to harness the technology’s economic benefits. In his first speech since becoming Canada’s first-ever AI minister, Evan Solomon said Canada will move away from “over-indexing on warnings and regulation” to make sure the economy benefits […]

Read More


Dozens of states sue to block the sale of 23andMe personal genetic data without customer consent

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy court seeking to block the sale of personal genetic data by 23andMe without customer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology company seeks the court’s approval to buy the struggling firm. Biological samples, DNA data, health-related traits […]

Read More


Greater Napanee to consider U.S. cross-border cellphone policy

When a cellphone or computer contains sensitive government documents, it can be a significant concern, even at the municipal level, if that device is carried across the border into the United States — particularly in light of the broad authority given to U.S. border officers to inspect electronic devices. On Thursday, Jun. 6, 2025, a […]

Read More


Carney vows Canada will meet 2% NATO spending pledge this year

Canada will finally meet its NATO defence spending commitment this year as it confronts an alarming new world of threats, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in Toronto Monday morning. Carney said Canada will rapidly advance its military spending timeline to hit the NATO target of two per cent of national GDP by adding $9 billion […]

Read More