Access and Privacy Online

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, October 10. 

This week: voter privacy, a stalled citizenship guide, student-aid spending, workplace AI, a U.S. court-system breach, and Norway’s proposed smart-glasses restrictions. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20261010-access-and-privacy-online

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2026-season-episode-41 

Voterprivacy.ca : www.voterprivacy.ca 

OIPC launches consultation on large volume freedom of information requests  

• Participate in the consultation: https://surveys.crcresearch.com/S2/?st=kgzAN%2FgooJGI58DXBDXA4TMM35It2LATScaIYjUahOg%3D 

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Our Contributors: 

Writing: Shaun Fisk | Production: Patrick Farnsworth | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder  

Access and Privacy Online: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-online/  

News stories through the Canadian Press, Feedly, and ICLMG. 

Available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes,  YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM. ListenNotes,  Podchaser, Boomplay 

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, October 3rd. 

This week: campaign apps test voter privacy, a health chatbot connects care and commerce, AI agents breach digital boundaries, and public records expose hidden detention practices. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20261003-access-and-privacy-online 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2026-season-episode-40 

Voterprivacy.ca: www.voterprivacy.ca 

OIPC launches consultation on large volume freedom of information requests  

• Participate in the consultation: https://surveys.crcresearch.com/S2/?st=kgzAN%2FgooJGI58DXBDXA4TMM35It2LATScaIYjUahOg%3D

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Our Contributors: 

Writing: Shaun Fisk | Production: Patrick Farnsworth | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder  

Access and Privacy Online: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-online/  

News stories through the Canadian Press, Feedly, and ICLMG. 

Available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes,  YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM. ListenNotes,  Podchaser, Boomplay 

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, September 19th. 

This week: banking without answers, access rights upheld, privacy lessons in classrooms, data-centre secrecy, America’s ballot battles, and new safeguards for students using AI. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20260919-access-and-privacy-online 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2026-season-episode-38 

Voterprivacy.ca: www.voterprivacy.ca 

OIPC launches consultation on large volume freedom of information requests  

• Participate in the consultation: https://surveys.crcresearch.com/S2/?st=kgzAN%2FgooJGI58DXBDXA4TMM35It2LATScaIYjUahOg%3D 

Migrants Right to Protest Petition: https://migrantrights.ca/RightToProtest/ 

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Our Contributors: 

Writing: Shaun Fisk | Production: Patrick Farnsworth | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder  

Access and Privacy Online: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-online/  

News stories through the Canadian Press, Feedly, and ICLMG. 

Available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes,  YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM. ListenNotes,  Podchaser, Boomplay 

 

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, September 12th. 

Today: B.C.’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner announces consultation and a new approach to access delays; migrants defending their right to protest; courts confronting secrecy; expanding police surveillance; and U.S. whistleblowers warning about dangerous shortcuts. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20260912-access-and-privacy-online 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2026-season-episode-37 

Voterprivacy.ca: www.voterprivacy.ca 

OIPC launches consultation on large volume freedom of information requests: 

• News Release: https://www.oipc.bc.ca/documents/news-releases/3239  
• Participate in the consultation: https://surveys.crcresearch.com/S2/?st=kgzAN%2FgooJGI58DXBDXA4TMM35It2LATScaIYjUahOg%3D 

ICLMG De Risking Event Registration:

• https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/the-damage-of-de-risking-iclmg-report-launch 
• https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MCUSjhejQtywhfEFrXzrtg#/registration  

Migrants Right to Protest Petition: https://migrantrights.ca/RightToProtest/ 

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Our Contributors: 

Writing: Shaun Fisk | Production: Patrick Farnsworth | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder  

Access and Privacy Online: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-online/  

News stories through the Canadian Press, Feedly, and ICLMG. 

Available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes,  YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM. ListenNotes,  Podchaser, Boomplay 

 

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, September 5th. 

This week: Ontario’s student-aid warning signs, a court fight over the right to be forgotten, a whistleblower warning that a rushed U.S. Postal Service system could put mail ballots at risk, and Meta’s new rules for young users. Let’s dive in. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20260905-access-and-privacy-online 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2026-season-episode-36

FIPA voterprivacy.ca 

• Voterprivacy.ca: www.voterprivacy.ca 

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Our Contributors: 

Writing: Shaun Fisk | Production: Patrick Farnsworth | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder  

Access and Privacy Online: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-online/  

News stories through the Canadian Press, Feedly, and ICLMG. 

Available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes,  YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM. ListenNotes,  Podchaser, Boomplay 

 

Canada’s Privacy Act was created for a very different technological era. Today, federal institutions can link datasets, automate decisions and use artificial intelligence to make inferences about people. What should the law require before government collects, shares or reuses personal information? 

In this Access and Privacy Online commentary, host Patrick Farnsworth speaks with FIPA Executive Director Jason Woywada and legal researcher Sara Mateika about FIPA’s submission to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s review of the Privacy Act. 

They examine FIPA’s 12 recommendations, including stronger necessity and proportionality tests, meaningful consent, transparent data-sharing agreements, safeguards for AI and automated decision-making, clearer privacy impact assessments, and improved breach notification. 

Sara also reflects on the research, collaboration and judgment involved in turning a complex national consultation into practical recommendations for public-interest reform. 

Privacy Act Recommendations:

• https://fipa.bc.ca/20260710-submission-tbs-privacy-review  

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Access and Privacy Commentary: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-commentary/  

Access and Privacy Online: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-online/ 

News stories through the Canadian Press and Feedly. 

Available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM 

Canada’s Access to Information Act gives people a legal right to request federal government records. But delays, unclear duties, inconsistent service and gaps created by outsourcing can make that right difficult to use in practice. 

In this special commentary, host Patrick Farnsworth speaks with Pascale Grenier, a UVic Law Co-op Legal Researcher who contributed to FIPA’s submission, and FIPA Executive Director Jason Woywada about the federal review of the Act. 

They discuss what “every reasonable effort” should require from government institutions, why requesters should receive a clear account of how their request was processed, when the public interest should favour disclosure, and why transparency should follow public functions and public money. 

Pascale also reflects on the research, judgment and practical lessons involved in turning complex legal and policy issues into recommendations for reform. 

What would it take to move access to information from a right on paper to a right people can rely on? 

• A Call for Stronger Access Rights: https://fipa.bc.ca/20260615-submission-tbs-atia-review  

• Pathways to Precarity: https://fipa.bc.ca/2024-pathways-to-precarity 

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Access and Privacy Commentary: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-commentary/  

Access and Privacy Online: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-online/ 

News stories through the Canadian Press and Feedly. 

Available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM 

How do we know whether a freedom-of-information system is actually working? Counting closed files and measuring response times tells only part of the story. 

In this Access and Privacy Commentary, host Patrick Farnsworth speaks with FIPA researcher Spencer Izen, author of Drawing Access Together, alongside FIPA Executive Director Jason Woywada and President Mike Larsen. 

The report draws on approximately three years of research involving 56 B.C. public bodies and more than 36,000 pages of policies, procedures, training materials and other records. It finds that public bodies frequently document how an FOI file moves through the system more clearly than how responsive records are found or how legal decisions about redaction are made. 

The panel discusses why recordkeeping is the foundation of access, why redaction is legal work, and why the statutory maximum for responding to a request should not become the ordinary timeline. They also examine the report’s central proposal that FOI performance be evaluated on correctness: whether the right records are found, the law is applied properly and information is released at the right time 

Listen to the discussion, read Drawing Access Together, and join the conversation about effective and accountable public administration. 

The scope, findings and recommendations summarized in this description are drawn directly from the final report and FIPA’s release materials. 

Drawing Access Together:

• https://fipa.bc.ca/aa/final-report-2026/  

• https://fipa.bc.ca/aa/final-report-background/  

• https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/access-assessments/ 

• https://fipa.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260615-Drawing-Access-Together-An-Access-Assessments-Report.pdf  

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Access and Privacy Commentary: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-commentary/  

Access and Privacy Online: https://fipa.bc.ca/research-resources/podcasts/access-and-privacy-online/ 

News stories through the Canadian Press and Feedly. 

Available through: PodBean, Apple iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM