Download the full August 2015 Bulletin, or use the links below to read individual articles online. In this issue: Political Parties and Your Personal Privacy Where do the Parties Stand on Access to Information Reform? OIPC to B.C. Government: Yes, You Can Post Those Embarrassing Reports Hacked: Real-Life Stories of Connected Cars Gone Bad The TPP’s Threat […]
Read MoreWhat does B.C.’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) have to do with international trade? One would expect that domestic laws that protect our information rights would have little to do with economic agreements, but deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are changing that. The TPP—a multinational trade agreement between the U.S., […]
Read MoreOur groundbreaking report, The Connected Car: Who is in the Driver’s Seat?, released for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in March of this year, warned that data culled from these new, smarter vehicles could be misused by identity thieves, voyeurs, stalkers and others with malicious intent. The report concludes that we need to get […]
Read MoreIn the April issue of the Bulletin, we described our complaint about the B.C. Government’s odd excuse for failing to post two embarrassing reports online: they claimed that they were simply complying with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). In response to our complaint, the Office of the B.C. Information and […]
Read MoreAs Canadians prepare to vote in the upcoming federal election, we at FIPA are working to determine where political parties stand on key access to information issues. Together with Newspapers Canada and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, we’ll be asking parties to describe what they will do to repair and improve transparency policies and practices, and […]
Read MoreHow can federal political parties use your personal information? Unfortunately, in Canada the answer is ‘any way they see fit.’ You read that correctly: Unlike most public or private organizations in this fair nation—whether public, private, non-profit, for-profit, professional or volunteer run— federal political parties are not governed by any privacy-specific legislation. And as parties […]
Read MoreFIPA Mini-Bulletin: June 2015 The past month has been action-packed at FIPA. At the Federal level, the passing of Bill C-51 in the Senate and the Conservative Government’s retroactive attack on access to information through the C-59 Omnibus Bill set the tone for the month. In BC, allegations were made by a former executive assistant […]
Read MoreNew report by BC FIPA takes a hard look at how our cars are watching us Our cars have changed. Once simply a means of traveling from point A to B, cars are increasingly capable of astonishing computerized feats. New “Connected Cars” are essentially computers on wheels whose functions include navigation, diagnosing vehicle health, monitoring […]
Read MoreIn a 2-1 ruling handed down April 23, the BC Court of Appeal has upheld an earlier decision which found that although third party ‘advertising’ provisions of the Election Act violated the Charter, they could still be justified. The law makes something as simple as putting a handwritten sign in your window during the election […]
Read MoreNobody likes going public with embarrassing reports, but the B.C. government has conjured some of its most creative legal analyses yet in an attempt to keep less flattering information out of the public realm. The B.C. government has refused to post both the McNeil report, which examines the mysterious Ministry of Health data breach firings, […]
Read MoreIt took two years, but the records requested by FIPA in 2012 regarding contracts and other records related to the mysterious Ministry of Health data breach case have finally been released and are posted on our website. FIPA had requested the following information: Data sharing and other agreements involving the Ministry and four named individuals; […]
Read MoreWhen the Senate passed Bill S-4, known as the Digital Privacy Act, in 2014, it was not without criticism. The bill’s stated objective was to protect online privacy, but critics warned that it may facilitate access to subscriber data held by internet service providers. Despite a Supreme Court ruling requiring police to obtain warrants to […]
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