Access and Privacy Online

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...

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...

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...

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...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, August 1st. This week: Alberta’s referendum costs and voter-file concerns; access records exposing hidden delays and historic mistreatment; municipal AI...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, July 25th. We are into the news doldrums of summer right now; that said, there are still stories hitting our radar. This week: bridge records, surveillance...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, July 18th. This week: FIPA calls for stronger federal privacy law; provinces narrow access to records; AI expansion tests energy, consent, and political...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, July 11th. We’re back after a brief holiday break. This week: a lawsuit over the exposure of nearly three million Alberta voters, unanswered questions about...

The team here at Access and Privacy Online is taking the next week off for the holiday. We’ll be back July 11th with more coverage. We’ll also be putting together some commentaries over the summer on the developing...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 20th. This week: transparency systems under scrutiny in B.C., new federal privacy and online safety proposals, whistleblower concerns from Montreal police...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 20th. This week: Ottawa moves on privacy, online safety, and surveillance powers; FIPA releases new work on access rights and transparency systems; and New...

Join us for FIPA's Annual General Meeting held on June 25, 2026, at 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time via Microsoft Teams. FIPA’s 2026 AGM is an ideal opportunity to hear highlights of the Association’s work over the past...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 13th. This week, voter privacy returns to the spotlight—with a major Senate report and fresh court developments in British Columbia. We’re also tracking...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, June 6th. This week, we begin in Alberta, where new FIPA-Ipsos polling shows strong public support for enforceable privacy rules after the exposure of voter...

This is your Access and Privacy News Summary for Saturday, May 30th. This week, we begin in Ottawa, where a number of major files moved forward. The federal government says it will amend parts of its contentious lawful...