Access and Privacy Online

Access and Privacy Online


Takeaways from AP’s report on the business interests of Trump’s surgeon general pick

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to be U.S. surgeon general has repeatedly said the nation’s medical and food systems are corrupted by special interests and people out to make a profit at the expense of Americans’ health. Yet as Dr. Casey Means has criticized scientists, medical schools and regulators for taking money […]

Read More


Judge weighs government’s request to unseal records of FBI’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is weighing a request from the Trump administration to unseal records of the FBI’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. — files that the civil rights leader’s relatives want to keep under wraps in the national archives. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., said during a hearing […]

Read More


Reddit sues AI company Anthropic for allegedly ‘scraping’ user comments to train chatbot Claude

Social media platform Reddit sued the artificial intelligence company Anthropic on Wednesday, alleging that it is illegally “scraping” the comments of millions of Reddit users to train its chatbot Claude. Reddit claims that Anthropic has used automated bots to access Reddit’s content despite being asked not to do so, and “intentionally trained on the personal […]

Read More


Immigration minister defends border bill’s restrictions on asylum claims

Safeguards have been written into the government’s border bill to ensure civil rights and due process are upheld in proposed immigration regulations, Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Wednesday. Critics and advocacy groups are calling the wide-ranging border security legislation a threat to civil liberties in the immigration and asylum system. One proposed change in the […]

Read More


NS Power CEO, staff grilled over breach that allowed theft of 280,000 customers’ data

Provincial politicians took aim at Nova Scotia Power during a legislative committee meeting this morning, saying the utility owes ratepayers answers after a cybersecurity breach gave thieves access to data belonging to 280,000 customers. The utility’s CEO and other staff were grilled by the public accounts committee about how the breach happened and what the […]

Read More


Federal bill includes new security powers to tighten border, immigration system

Proposed federal legislation would give authorities new powers to search mail, make it easier for officials to pause or cancel immigration applications and expand the Canadian Coast Guard’s role to include security activities. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree introduced the Strong Borders Act in the House of Commons on Tuesday. The government says the wide-ranging, […]

Read More


20250531 Access and Privacy Online

Show Notes for Saturday May 31. Writing: Shaun Fisk  | Production: Patrick Farnsworth  | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder Send comments to: FIPAOnline @ fipa.bc.ca You can support these efforts by subscribing or donating.   Full Show Links East Coast Data in the Spotlight  Nova Scotia Power confirms server breach was ‘sophisticated’ ransomware attack  https://fipa.bc.ca/nova-scotia-power-confirms-server-breach-was-sophisticated-ransomware-attack/  Federal privacy czar starts probe into theft of customer data from […]

Read More


Trump picks right-wing lawyer and podcaster who promoted 2020 election lies as watchdog agency head

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to lead a federal watchdog agency is a former right-wing podcast host who has praised criminally charged influencer Andrew Tate as a “extraordinary human being” and promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was rigged. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Paul Ingrassia would lead the Office […]

Read More


Judge wrestles with far-reaching remedy proposals in US antitrust case against Google

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fate and fortunes of one of the world’s most powerful tech companies now sit in the hands of a U.S. judge wrestling with whether to impose far-reaching changes upon Google in the wake of its dominant search engine being declared an illegal monopoly. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta heard closing arguments […]

Read More


U.S. lawyer targeted by Trump cautions Canada on AI and attacks on dissent

An American lawyer stripped of his security clearance by U.S. President Donald Trump says Canadians need to be vigilant about attacks on political freedom south of the border. Mark Zaid, a speaker at the Web Summit Vancouver tech conference, said he never expected to get “attacked” by a sitting president over the work he’s done […]

Read More


Thieves gain access to about 140,000 social insurance numbers in NS Power database

Nova Scotia Power’s CEO says up to 140,000 social insurance numbers could have been stolen by cyber-thieves who recently hacked into the utility’s customer records. Peter Gregg said in an interview Thursday that the privately owned utility collected the numbers from customers to authenticate their identities. “If there are a number of John MacDonalds, it […]

Read More


Despite clear violation, St. Catharines Integrity Commissioner excuses Mayor Mat Siscoe for using taxpayer dollars to endorse Doug Ford

In a decision that appears to contradict itself, the municipal watchdog hired by Council members to hold them accountable has determined that even though Mayor Mat Siscoe violated rules set out in the Code of Conduct that governs the behaviour of local elected officials, his conduct somehow did not rise to a punishable contravention of […]

Read More