WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is set to consider a bill next week that would reauthorize a surveillance program that U.S. officials consider vital to national security but that critics say raises privacy concerns. The action comes shortly before the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on April 19. […]

A future Conservative government would change the law to require that porn websites verify the age of users to prevent minors from accessing the content, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre signalled on Wednesday.  When asked whether his government would require porn websites to verify the age of users, Poilievre gave a one-word answer: “Yes.”  He didn’t […]

Some state governments and federal regulators were already moving to keep individuals’ reproductive health information private when a U.S. senator’s report last week offered a new jolt, describing how cellphone location data was used to send millions of anti-abortion ads to people who visited Planned Parenthood offices. Federal law bars medical providers from sharing health […]

Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that its surveillance system was used incorrectly to identify potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers. The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission addresses charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do enough to prevent harm to its customers and […]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s largest city is blanketed with 10,000 cameras, license plate readers along some of the busiest roadways and special listening devices that hone in on the sound of gunfire — all part of a technological net of sorts that Albuquerque authorities say has been an integral part of addressing high […]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — At the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit in Dubai, surveillance cameras seem to be everywhere you turn. And that has some worried. It’s unclear how the United Arab Emirates, an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms, uses the footage it gathers across its extensive network. However, the country already has […]

OTTAWA — A coalition pushing for better regulation of facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technologies says proposed federal privacy legislation is in “dire need of significant amendments.” In an open letter Wednesday to Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, the Right2YourFace Coalition warns the use of facial recognition technology threatens human rights, equity principles and fundamental freedoms, including […]

OTTAWA — Some members of Parliament say they have no idea how to spot foreign interference, as Canada’s spy agency warns that all elected officials are targets for hostile states. “There is not clarity, quite frankly, around what MPs and their parties can do to protect themselves,” NDP MP Rachel Blaney told CSIS officials on […]

OTTAWA — The federal public safety minister says he is prepared to work with other parliamentarians to revise the Liberal government’s cybersecurity bill after civil society groups and opposition MPs raised transparency and accountability concerns. While he is open to changes, Marco Mendicino said in a recent interview the bill that was introduced last year […]

JERUSALEM (AP) — Majd Ramlawi was serving coffee in Jerusalem’s Old City when a chilling text message appeared on his phone. “You have been spotted as having participated in acts of violence in the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” it read in Arabic. “We will hold you accountable.” Ramlawi, then 19, was among hundreds of people who civil […]

Thanks to funding from the federal Privacy Commissioner’s Contributions Program, FIPA is launching a year-long study to examine the effect of electronic monitoring systems in our vehicles, on our privacy rights and consumer choice. Our vehicles are no longer simple mechanical devices which provide us with transportation, but electronic platforms capable of remarkable feats. This […]

In this update: Conservatives hit hard by backlash against online spying bill – a privacy issue that has rung the bell with a majority of Canadians. Read the update (pdf).