FIPA

FIPA We are a non-partisan non-profit community promoting and defending freedom of information and privacy rights in Canada.

The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is a non-partisan, non-profit society that was established in 1991 to promote and defend freedom of information and privacy rights in Canada. Our goal is to empower citizens by increasing their access to information and their control over their own personal information. We serve a wide variety of individuals and organizations through pro

grams of public education, public assistance, research, and law reform. We are one of very few public interest groups in Canada devoted solely to the advancement of freedom of information (FOI) and privacy rights.

08/29/2026

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?...

08/22/2026

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 Pa...

08/08/2026

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, alo...

08/01/2026

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 recor...

07/25/2026

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 r...

07/18/2026

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....

07/11/2026

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 overdoses inside B.C. hospitals, expanding surveillance in the United States, and ...

06/29/2026

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 access and privacy stories we have been covering here on the podcast. Take care, ...

06/27/2026

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, and major U.S. stories on public records, voter data, and law enforcement accoun...

06/20/2026

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 Brunswick’s review of its access and privacy law points to familiar questions ...

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Victoria, BC
V8W3R9

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Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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