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Botched
VICTORIA - Mistakes, missed opportunities and
bureaucratic bungling led more than two dozen officials to botch the
BC government’s response to a major privacy breach, according to a
scathing internal review. (Victoria Times Colonist) REPORTS:
Jan 29, 2010 letter
Privacy Breach Human Resources Review
Internal
Review - Privacy Breach
Internal
Review - Interim Report: Privacy Breach
(.pdfs)
Lost laptops ‘stun’ watchdog
EDMONTON -
Only half the 48 laptop disappearances over the last four years were
investigated, and just once did officials look into whether a lost
or stolen computer contained personal information, according to a
report by city auditor
David Wiun. (Edmonton Journal)
REPORT:
Privacy controls laptops .pdf
Planned Bill redundant
'Not to disclose the existence of this request'
PHILADELPHIA
- The grand jury subpoena also required the Philadelphia-based
Indymedia.us Web site "not to
disclose the existence of this request" unless authorized by the
Justice Department, a gag order that presents an unusual quandary
for any news organization. (CBS) MORE:
Anatomy of a bogus subpoena
Casinos sent to the fringes
MOSCOW - Thousands
of casinos, slot-machine parlors and betting halls across Russia
shut down complying with sweeping new restrictions that require all
gambling business to relocate to four remote regions of the
country. (AP) MORE:
Russia bans casinos
Putin sends casinos to Siberia
Journalists win access to files
TORONTO -
Journalists had been cut off from information in court files as a
result of a long-standing policy of Ontario's Ministry of the
Attorney General that prevented the public from obtaining accurate
news reports about cases in the justice system. (Toronto Star)
US court throws out 'wardrobe malfunction' fine
PHILADELPHIA
- A US federal appeals court threw out a $550,000 indecency fine
against CBS Corp. on Monday for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show
that ended with
Janet Jackson's
breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction." The three-judge panel of the
3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal
Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in
issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity. (AP)
PREVIOUS:
Super
Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy
Privacy law's stifling effect on research
VICTORIA - The
chairman of an all-party legislative committee that rejected a plea
to change a law that is stifling health research says he is
surprised at the ill effects the law is having on scientific
research. (Vancouver Sun) PREVIOUS:
Privacy
law freezes Health research
'Advisers' to enforce Bill 101
QUEBEC - In the
wake of a tempest over the survival of French in Quebec, Language
Minister Christine St-Pierre presented her action plan yesterday -
which calls for voluntary compliance and a beefed-up crew of
"language advisers." (Montreal Gazette)
Microsoft disconnects gamers
Thousands of gamers may have been cut off from
Microsoft's online gaming service
Xbox Live for modifying their consoles to
play pirated games. Online reports suggest that as many as 600,000
gamers may have been affected. Microsoft has not said how it was
able to determine which gamers to disconnect. (BBC)
PREVIOUS:
Microsoft seeks patent for office 'spy' software
'Kill switch' dropped from Vista
Baggy pants crackdown
TRENTON - It's a
fashion that started in prison, and now the saggy pants craze has
come full circle - low-slung street strutting in some cities may
soon mean run-ins with the law, including a stint in jail. (AP)
Officials to smoke out 'abuse'
CALGARY -
Exposing children to second-hand smoke could expose parents to a
risk assessment by a social worker, says the province's children's
services minister. (Calgary Herald) PREVIOUS:
Parents can be charged for exposing
kids to drugs Drug
Endangered Children Act
Six kids seized in drug houses
Children playing on street run afoul of Ottawa bylaw
OTTAWA - The
children were in violation of the City of Ottawa bylaw No. 2003-530,
specifically Part IX, clause 93, subsection 1, which states: "No
person shall play or take part in any game or sport upon a
roadway." (Ottawa Citizen) RELATED:
Schools
banning tag at recess to avoid lawsuits
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Watchdog raises alarm
OTTAWA - Were you
the person who recently cashed a government-issued cheque for under
$300 at your local trust company? You probably never expected to be
flagged as suspicious, but you were, says Canada's privacy
commissioner in a new audit of Canada's financial watchdog agency.
The financial agencies, realtors, accountants, casino operators,
and others that are monitored by
FINTRAC face stiff fines, up to
$2M, if they fail to scrutinize and report on suspicious monetary
transactions of clients, which is a powerful incentive to
over-report. (Toronto Star) REPORT:
Annual report to Parliament 2008-2009
Every adult is a potential threat
LONDON - Adults
banned from working with children under the Government’s anti-paedophile
will have limited right of appeal and must wait 10 years to have
their cases reconsidered. Previous employers and professional
bodies are under a legal duty to inform the
ISA
if they think someone poses a risk. (Telegraph UK) MORE:
Scheme defended
Vetting children's authors
This stupid law will turn us into outlaws
This vetting monster will harm children
Law may have 'glitches'
PORT HOPE -
Ontario Liberal Lou Rinaldi says he will look for “glitches” in the
new law banning drivers from smoking in a vehicle containing
children. (CP) PREVIOUS:
Busted
Matter of time before
someone 'snaps'
Vehicles will be tracked
VANCOUVER - Next
spring, there'll be eyes on the
Golden Ears Bridge.
As the first electronically tolled bridge in western Canada, slated
for completion in spring 2009, it will be equipped with toll sensors
and digital cameras to track the identification of every vehicle
that travels on the one-kilometre span. (Vancouver Sun)
Did Deutsche Telekom spy
BONN - Had it not
been for the money, there is a good chance that the entire "unsavory
story" - as a senior executive at German telecommunications giant
Deutsche Telekom
AG called it last week - would never have come to light.
(Spiegel) MORE:
Deutsche Telekom uncovers data
misuse in spy probe
Data abuse can't be
ruled out by any provider
Reporters ordered to reveal sources
OTTAWA - A
federal court judge has ordered two Montreal newspaper reporters to
reveal who leaked a confidential Canadian Security Intelligence
Service document that accused Adil Charkaoui of being an Al Qaeda
member. . (Toronto Star) MORE:
Journalists must answer questions about leaded report
Your tax dollars at work
VICTORIA - Peace is being declared in the tug of war between public
health officials and Victoria City Hall over Victoria's
Old Morris Tobacconist.
(Victoria Times Colonist)
PREVIOUS:
Heritage signs semi-ok
Catch-22
Catch-22 (logic)
The out of sight, out
of mind solution
Quebec spells doom to 'zoom, zoom, zoom'
MONTREAL -
Transport Minister
Julie Boulet
proposed an amendment to the highway safety bill yesterday that will
give the provincial auto insurance board a mandate to come up with
guidelines to ban ads that depict "heedless, careless or dangerous
behaviour and gestures." She said she didn't like seeing ads, for
instance, that show "snowmobiles flying over the snow." (Montreal
Gazette)
Privacy threats no longer 'Terra Incogtnita'
MONTREAL -
International Data Protection and
Privacy Commissioner's conference
brings together
hundreds of privacy commissioners, government regulators, business
leaders, and privacy advocates who spend three days grappling with
emerging issues. (Michael
Geist) PREVIOUS: Phone
data law extends surveillance power
No
escaping Big Brother Technology
turning citizens into spies
Making data anonymous can be tricky
Urban rules
New
federal legislation designed to curb money laundering and terrorism
has made banking difficult for some people in Arctic Canada. Under
the rigorous legislation, every account must be linked to an address
with a street name. But many northern communities don't have street
names. (CBC)
Drink limits 'useless'
LONDON -
Guidelines on safe alcohol consumption limits that
have shaped health policy in Britain for 20 years were “plucked out
of the air” as an “intelligent guess. (Times online)
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