Access and Privacy Online

Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA)
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The Freedom of Information and Privacy Association brings you this weekly roundup of the news stories in the information management field.

  1. 3d ago

    News Summary September 12th, 2026

    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

    News Summary September 12th, 2026

  2. Sep 5

    News Summary September 5th, 2026

    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

    News Summary September 5th, 2026

  3. Aug 29

    Commentary: What Canada’s Privacy Act Must Protect

    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

    Commentary: What Canada’s Privacy Act Must Protect

  4. Aug 22

    Commentary: A Call for Stronger Access Rights

    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

    Commentary: A Call for Stronger Access Rights

  5. Aug 8

    Commentary: Drawing Access Together — Lessons Learned

    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

    Commentary: Drawing Access Together — Lessons Learned

  6. Aug 1

    News Summary Aug 1st, 2026

    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 safeguards; and, internationally, the growing struggle over surveillance, public records, and platform control.  Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20260801-access-and-privacy-online Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2026-season-episode-31 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

    News Summary Aug 1st, 2026

  7. Jul 25

    News Summary July 25th, 2026

    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 pricing, paid priority access to Truth Social, and Vatican secrecy all hit the FIPA radar.  Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20260725-access-and-privacy-online  Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2026-season-episode-30  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

    News Summary July 25th, 2026

  8. Jul 18

    News Summary July 18th, 2026

    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 accountability; and U.S. investigations raise new concerns for public records and press freedom.  Show Notes: https://fipa.bc.ca/nm/20260718-access-and-privacy-online  Individual Stories: https://fipa.bc.ca/tag/2026-season-episode-29  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

    News Summary July 18th, 2026
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The Freedom of Information and Privacy Association brings you this weekly roundup of the news stories in the information management field.

Information

  • Creator
    Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA)
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Access and Privacy Online