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The federal government may be the biggest risk to Canadians' privacy as "some government departments have suffered breaches virtually every 48 hours."

The government continually pushes for more of our private data, yet history shows it as a great deal of troubling protecting it. We deserve better. Call for a pro-privacy commitment now: http://openmedia.ca/stand

Article by Michael Geist for the Toronto Star:

As Canadians focused last week on the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing and the RCMP arrests of two men accused of plotting to attack Via Rail, the largest sustained series of privacy breaches in Canadian history was uncovered but attracted only limited attention. Canadians have faced high profile data breaches in the past – Winners/HomeSense and the CIBC were both at the centre of serious breaches several years ago – but last week, the federal government revealed that it may represent the biggest risk to the privacy of millions of Canadians as some government departments have suffered breaches virtually every 48 hours. Read more »

This week, comments from Stephen Harper about police powers for investigating online crimes have privacy advocates worried that the government might exploit Canadians’ fears around cyberbullying to reboot its failed online spying program. Using language pulled directly from bill C-30 talking points, Harper noted that law enforcement encounters difficulties because “investigative tools for our police officers have not kept pace with the Internet age. That must change.” This is in spite of the fact that law enforcement has to date failed to provide factual evidence that the current framework is ineffective.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen sensitive issues used to justify an inappropriate response; in a failed attempt at positive spin the bill itself was renamed the “Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act.” In a much worse PR blunder, Safety Minister Vic Toews incited uproar from Canadians when he suggested that citizens and privacy commissioners who voiced concerns over the invasiveness of the bill were aligning themselves with criminals. Read more »

Telus are refusing to comment on reports that it is in talks to acquire independent provider Mobilicity.

This would mean that the already dismal state of competition in our cell phone market would be reduced yet further - meaning higher prices and less choice for consumers.

Canadians have made it very clear that we want more choice, not less - stand up for choice at http://DemandChoice.ca

For more info: http://bit.ly/11mJNVD Read more »

Canadians are paying 13% more for cell phone service than they did last year – this while Canada’s overall inflation rate holds steady at 1%. That's according to a study released by J.D. Power & Associates.

At the start of 2013, the average monthly cell phone bill in Canada topped $77, an increase of $9 from 2012, according to the study.

These high cell phone bills are largely due to our broken cell phone market, in which three large players control upwards of 94% of services, and where smaller independent players may be on their way out.

It's time to stand up to demand a wireless market with greater affordability and choice by signing the petition at http://DemandChoice.ca Read more »

Thanks to factors like better prices and competition, we see places where individuals can, and often do, own more than one phone. Many people like to have more than one phone on their account - especially parents who want to enable their children to have cell phone access.

This has led to countries like Finland having 175% cell phone penetration. Where does Canada stand? We have not yet surpassed 100% cell phone penetration. Canadians deserve better. Tell Industry Minister that you want choice in our cell phone market: http://DemandChoice.ca

Read more cell phone penetration info here (by Peter Nowak): http://bit.ly/17Hh1Sy

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Here's Arielle with your update:

This week we discuss the Bell Astral Takeover, a $3.4 billion deal that would increase concentration of media ownership in Canada. After Bell’s proposal was rejected by the CRTC last year, another round of hearings are taking place in Montreal this week. Let’s tell the CRTC to shut this deal down for good. Read more »