Access and Privacy Online

News Summary July 26th, 2025

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, July 26th.  

We start with a solid reminder for Canadians crossing the U.S. border and some important changes in the Canadian privacy landscape. 

There’s our regular scan of access to information and privacy stories across Canada, with an interesting group of stories from Maggie Macintosh at the Winnipeg Free Press. 

Plus, we see the settlement of the lawsuit against Meta, have our now-regular review of the erosion of privacy and access to information in the United States, and look at international stories that came to our attention. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20250726-access-and-privacy-online/ 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2025-season-episode-30 

Protect your rights, Canadian MPs need to:

Stop Bill C-2 https://iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/  

Stop Bill C-4 Part 4 https://fipa.bc.ca/bill-c-4-2025/ 

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 and Feedly. 

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

News Summary July 19th, 2025

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

In Canadian access news, records reveal the Alberta Government literally following the lists of most banned books in the United States to create their own book bans. Plus there’s evidence of shortfalls in Indigenous procurement and failures in emergency response. 

In Privacy and whistleblower news, we see Irish Rappers in the spotlight, a rise in antisemitism and Nazi rhetoric in Ontario schools, and one local Municipality seeking to better support and protect its own whistleblowers. 

We have regular reports of access and privacy issues south of the border including new details about privacy violations from Facebook and Meta. To wrap up, we have a special cluster of stories that intersect access to information and privacy in the UK with their efforts to protect people who served in a foreign conflict. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20250719-access-and-privacy-online/ 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2025-season-episode-29/ 

Protect your rights, Canadian MPs need to:

Stop Bill C-2 https://iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/  

Stop Bill C-4 Part 4 https://fipa.bc.ca/bill-c-4-2025/ 

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 and Feedly. 

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

 

News Summary July 12th, 2025

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

We’re heading into the full summer season here, and while you’re hopefully enjoying the sun where you are, we’ll start with the access to information and privacy scans across Canada. There are some troubling environmental impacts as one oil company breaks a deal and another has documented ties to a provincial government. Plus, there’s a reminder that drone operators can face charges if they don’t respect people’s privacy. 

We have a few stories from south of the border, with the FTC blocking efforts to make it easier for people to unsubscribe, and one state making changes that could impact the privacy of donors to charities. 

We’ll wrap with a troubling report that intersects your travel data and data brokers and learn about recent steps in Alberta to increase understanding of new Access and Privacy laws in the province.

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20250712-access-and-privacy-online/ 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2025-season-episode-28/ 

Protect your rights, Canadian MPs need to: 

• Stop Bill C-2 https://iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/  
• Stop Bill C-4 Part 4 https://fipa.bc.ca/bill-c-4-2025/ 

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 and Feedly. 

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

 

News Summary July 5th, 2025

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

While there are national holidays in Canada and south of the border this past week, there are still lots to consider in the news. 

We’ll start with a few Canadian stories intersecting privacy, including an Ontario data breach, the Government of the Northwest Territories making changes that impact privacy in missing persons cases, and a BC case that intersects reasonable expectations of privacy in the workplace. 

We’ll have our scan of Canadian stories that intersect, or were informed by access to information, and we will then shift south of the border with more government chaos and legal battles. 

This week, we’ll wrap with a look at troubling privacy and access stories across the globe that include hiding official information, criminals targeting personal data, and actions that target religious groups at risk. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20250705-access-and-privacy-online/ 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2025-season-episode-27/ 

To protect your rights, MPs need to: 

Stop Bill C-2 https://iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/  

Stop Bill C-4 Part 4 https://fipa.bc.ca/bill-c-4-2025/ 

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 and Feedly. 

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

 

News Summary June 28th, 2025

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 28th.  

We have some updates on Bill C-2 and Bill C-4 as the House of Commons rises for the summer. 

We’ll have our regular scan across the country with a surprising group of stories in Alberta echoing influences from south of the border—including moves by the provincial government to ban books and access to information showing how one elected official says one thing publicly while working for corporate interests behind the scenes. 

And we'll end with two international stories, including the Pope’s views on Artificial Intelligence—and the steps one country is taking to fight crime with weaponized police drones. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/20250628-access-and-privacy-online/ 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2025-season-episode-26/ 

To protect your rights, MPs need to: 

Stop Bill C-2 https://iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/  

Stop Bill C-4 Part 4 https://fipa.bc.ca/bill-c-4-2025/ 

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 and Feedly. 

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

 

Commentary: Bill C-4 w/ Michael Geist

In this Commentary, we discuss Bill C-4, titled An Act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure. That “other measure” is a series of amendments to the Canada Election Act creating serious impacts on people and their personal information. FIPA is conducting its first joint podcast with Michael Geist and The Law Bytes Podcast. 

Join me, FIPA Executive Director Jason Woywada and Michael Geist. Professor of Law and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa for a discussion of C-4 and your political privacy. 

The Law Bytes Podcast w/ Michael Geist: https://www.michaelgeist.ca/podcast 

Find out more about Michael:  

• https://ca.linkedin.com/in/michaelgeist  

• https://www.uottawa.ca/research-innovation/centre-law-technology-society/people/geist-michael  

Listen to our commentary with Robert Diab on Bill C-2: https://fipanews.podbean.com/e/Commentary-Bill-C-2-w-Robert-Diab

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Access and Privacy Commentaries: 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. ListenNotes,  Podchaser, Boomplay  

Commentary: Bill C-2 w/ Robert Diab

Canada’s federal C-2 Strong Borders Act is a sweeping and controversial bill that is currently moving through Parliament. The bill includes ‘lawful access’ provisions, unrelated to borders, that expand state powers to access personal information held by electronic service providers. This is not the first time that lawful access powers have been proposed, and privacy advocates across Canada have raised serious concerns about the implications of these measures.

Join me, FIPA president Mike Larsen, and guest Robert Diab, Professor of Law at Thompson Rivers University, for a discussion of C-2 and lawful access. Robert Diab is the author of Search and Seizure (Irwin Law, 2023), and an expert on search powers, technology, and privacy in Canada. 

Read Robert’s article, The proposed Strong Borders Act gives police new invasive search powers that may breach Charter rights, at The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/the-proposed-strong-borders-act-gives-police-new-invasive-search-powers-that-may-breach-charter-rights-258257 

Find him on Substack at https://robertdiab.substack.com/, and at https://www.robertdiab.ca 

Listen to our commentary with Michael Geist on Bill C-4: https://fipanews.podbean.com/e/Commentary-Bill-C-4-w-Michael-Geist 

Support these efforts by subscribing or donating. 

Send comments to FIPAOnline@fipa.bc.ca 

Access and Privacy Commentaries: 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. ListenNotes,  Podchaser, Boomplay  

News Summary June 14th, 2025

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 14th.  

We’ve got stories from across the country shaped by access to information—from national defense funding to local integrity issues, wildfire preparedness, and controversial provincial actions. 

We’ll follow that with a scan of cybersecurity incidents, data breaches, and surveillance concerns that are hitting public institutions hard. 

Then we take a closer look at how Canadians near the U.S. border are navigating growing privacy concerns—while south of the border, Trump’s appointments and surveillance powers reveal the ongoing shift toward autocracy. 

And we wrap with an important conversation and call to action from FIPA President Mike Larsen and Executive Director Jason Woywada on Bills C-2 and C-4. 

Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/20250614-access-and-privacy-online/ 

Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2025-season-episode-22/ 

To protect your rights, MPs need to: 

Stop Bill C-2 https://iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/  

Stop Bill C-4 Part 4 https://fipa.bc.ca/bill-c-4-2025/ 

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 and Feedly. 

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