Access and Privacy Online

Access and Privacy Online


B.C. legislation would give cabinet sweeping powers amid U.S. tariff threats

British Columbia’s government is proposing giving cabinet broad-reaching emergency powers to respond to what Premier David Eby calls the “human-caused disaster” coming in like a freight train from the United States. A bill, tabled in the legislature Thursday, gives cabinet the power to implement charges on vehicles using B.C. infrastructure, such as highways and ferries, […]

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US attorneys for a Russian woman seeking to recover a megayacht target Antigua

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Attorneys for the daughter of a U.S.-sanctioned Russian billionaire asked a U.S. federal court Tuesday for access to the financial records of officials including the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, whose administration is under scrutiny for seizing and selling the family’s 265-foot (81-meter) megayacht and not releasing documents […]

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Close calls at Washington DC airport raise questions about why changes weren’t made before crash

When Congress pushed ahead last year with adding 10 new daily flights to Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration had data showing an unnerving number of near misses in the already-crowded skies — something lawmakers apparently did not know. The FAA, which manages the nation’s airspace and oversees aviation safety, had data […]

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Abuse of power and lack of transparency among former trustee’s concerns in Valleyview

A Valleyview library board member has resigned, stating the board is abusing its power, lacking transparency, dismissing public input, miscommunicating and intimidating the public.  Kelli Reimer resigned as a trustee on social media on March 4, after almost 15 years serving the library in different capacities. “Despite my commitment to advocating for library users and […]

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Nova Scotia NDP urging public to weigh in on the government’s ‘overreaching’ bills

A series of contentious Nova Scotia government bills — including one that would lift a ban on fracking and uranium mining — come before a legislature committee next week, and the province’s Opposition leader is urging the public to make its voice heard. NDP Leader Claudia Chender said people and groups with concerns should attend […]

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Schools use AI to monitor kids, hoping to prevent violence. Our investigation found security risks

One student asked a search engine, “Why does my boyfriend hit me?” Another threatened suicide in an email to an unrequited love. A gay teen opened up in an online diary about struggles with homophobic parents, writing they just wanted to be themselves. In each case and thousands of others, surveillance software powered by artificial […]

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Risks of state abortion reporting mandates outweigh the benefits, an advocacy group says

States should stop requiring health providers to file reports on every abortion because the information poses a risk to both them and their patients in the current political environment, a research group that advocates for abortion access says. The Guttmacher Institute says in a new recommendation that the benefit of mandated and detailed data collection […]

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UK expels Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse in tit-for-tat response to expulsions in Moscow

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government said Wednesday it has expelled a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse in a tit-for-tat response to the expulsion of two British embassy staff in Moscow earlier this week. The Foreign Office said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to the U.K., Andrei Kelin, to inform him of the […]

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Takeaways from our investigation on AI-powered school surveillance

Thousands of American schools are turning to AI-powered surveillance technology for 24/7 monitoring of student accounts and school-issued devices like laptops and tablets. The goal is to keep children safe, especially amid a mental health crisis and the threat of school shootings. Machine-learning algorithms detect potential indicators of problems like bullying, self-harm or suicide and […]

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FTC asks judge to delay Amazon trial due to resource constraints

The Federal Trade Commission asked a federal judge on Wednesday to delay a trial in a case accusing Amazon of using deceptive practices in its Prime subscription program, citing staffing and budgetary challenges at the government agency. Jonathan Cohen, a lawyer for the FTC, made the request before U.S. District Judge John Chun, who is […]

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US attorneys for a Russian woman seeking to recover a megayacht target Antigua

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Attorneys for the daughter of a U.S.-sanctioned Russian billionaire asked a U.S. federal court Tuesday for access to the financial records of officials including the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, whose administration is under scrutiny for seizing and selling the family’s 265-foot (81-meter) megayacht and not releasing documents […]

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Province quietly pulls plug on Grade 10 exams

Manitoba Education has discreetly dropped Grade 10 exams from its annual system-wide assessment schedule. The evaluations were originally designed to measure strengths and knowledge gaps up to and including Grade 9 content to inform teacher instruction for the remainder of a cohort’s high school career and provincial planning, policy and resource decisions. They never made […]

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