News Summary February 8th , 2025

Coming up in your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, February 8th. 

We continue to track the nationwide fallout from the PowerSchool data breaches in Canada. We'll also take a look at a recent phishing attack targeting a BC school district, highlighting ongoing risks to educational institutions. 

There’s a new report from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner on municipal record-keeping—a topic with significant implications for transparency and accountability.  

Internationally, we’ve got a packed show. Book bans in Canada and the U.S. are making headlines, with legal challenges brewing on both sides of the border. There’s also a major update on Italy blocking access to DeepSeek, a Chinese AI platform, over privacy concerns. And in the U.S., Trump-era decisions affecting government transparency and privacy rights are once again under scrutiny. 

We’ll close the show with excerpts from two FIPA Commentaries—one on Foreign Interference in Canadian Democracy and another on how global instability is reshaping cybersecurity, privacy, and information access. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/20250208-access-and-privacy-online/ 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2025-season-episode-06/

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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 and Feedly. 

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