Victoria McIntosh
@vmcntosh.bsky.social
Freelance information & #privacy professional in Halifax, NS. Geek, history & caffeine enthusiast. MLIS, CIPT. I work hard so my pets live the good life. @vmcntosh on the old bird site. Skeets on a little bit of everything.
Really gotta watch Bluesky. One moment you’re browsing casually, the next you trip over your own soap box triggers.
December 9, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Really gotta watch Bluesky. One moment you’re browsing casually, the next you trip over your own soap box triggers.
“Canada’s health data system is stuck in the 1990s: The 25-year-old Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)…”
I’m gonna stop you right there….
I’m gonna stop you right there….
*from behind the healthcare system data curtain*
How we handle health data is genuinely insane. It feels like the 1990s. It's inproving, but unevenly and slowly overall.
substack.com/@missingmidd...
How we handle health data is genuinely insane. It feels like the 1990s. It's inproving, but unevenly and slowly overall.
substack.com/@missingmidd...
Health Innovation Doesn’t Have to Be This Hard
Outdated rules are holding Canada back.
substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:01 AM
“Canada’s health data system is stuck in the 1990s: The 25-year-old Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)…”
I’m gonna stop you right there….
I’m gonna stop you right there….
Historically, this sounds like a modern retelling of the agricultural policy from China’s Great Leap Forward.
Spoiler alert: it did not end well.
Spoiler alert: it did not end well.
"My family has been farming this land for 3 generations and I don't wanna mess it up, so I'm gonna load all my daddy's historical notes into ChatGPT and ask it for advice"
Is a completely unhinged commercial
Is a completely unhinged commercial
December 9, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Historically, this sounds like a modern retelling of the agricultural policy from China’s Great Leap Forward.
Spoiler alert: it did not end well.
Spoiler alert: it did not end well.
It’s “your pets act as hot water bottles” season and I’m here for it.
December 9, 2025 at 12:12 AM
It’s “your pets act as hot water bottles” season and I’m here for it.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
lol was watching batman this morning and got hit with "ignore all previous instructions"
December 6, 2025 at 5:43 PM
lol was watching batman this morning and got hit with "ignore all previous instructions"
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
Did you know that the Canadian government issued Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus Canadian citizenship?
In fact, there is some evidence to say that Santa is indeed Canadain.
This is the story of Santa's Canadian connections!
🧵 1/5
In fact, there is some evidence to say that Santa is indeed Canadain.
This is the story of Santa's Canadian connections!
🧵 1/5
December 8, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Did you know that the Canadian government issued Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus Canadian citizenship?
In fact, there is some evidence to say that Santa is indeed Canadain.
This is the story of Santa's Canadian connections!
🧵 1/5
In fact, there is some evidence to say that Santa is indeed Canadain.
This is the story of Santa's Canadian connections!
🧵 1/5
Velvet Manager? Violin Mechanic?
Not a lot of options !
Not a lot of options !
What would your profession be if you could only have a role with your initials? Like I could be a Counter of Beans, Car Buffer, a Churner of Butter or a Communications Boss (!)
What’s yours?
What’s yours?
December 8, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Velvet Manager? Violin Mechanic?
Not a lot of options !
Not a lot of options !
Double-checking articles being shared on my feed are in fact, Wired, and not @theonion.com .
December 8, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Double-checking articles being shared on my feed are in fact, Wired, and not @theonion.com .
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
'We will never fucking trust you again' www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurne...
Matt Gurney: 'We will never fucking trust you again'
Some blunt talk for our American neighbours at the Halifax International Security Forum.
www.readtheline.ca
December 8, 2025 at 9:56 PM
'We will never fucking trust you again' www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurne...
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
Do I hate everything or is it just dark at 5 pm
December 8, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Do I hate everything or is it just dark at 5 pm
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
Thanks to @philmoscovitch.bsky.social and @halifaxexaminer.ca for showing me that 374 pipers playing Long Way To The Top is even more horrific than I could have imagined youtu.be/kjbUvKYo3zg?...
Watch 374 bagpipe players break world record with AC/DC tribute
YouTube video by Guardian Australia
youtu.be
December 8, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Thanks to @philmoscovitch.bsky.social and @halifaxexaminer.ca for showing me that 374 pipers playing Long Way To The Top is even more horrific than I could have imagined youtu.be/kjbUvKYo3zg?...
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
Every time I read about the network state it’s like: At long last, we have created the no-adults island society from classic social science novel Lord of the Flies.
"Srinivasan himself has started a 'Network School' on an artificial island near Singapore, where techno-optimists can work their day jobs remotely while living in a hotel together and learning how to 'bootstrap'... a new society [ — ] 'society-as-a-service'"
Tech elites are starting their own for-profit cities
They want to escape from regulation and ‘failing’ democracy — but are they more opportunistic than libertarian?
www.ft.com
December 8, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Every time I read about the network state it’s like: At long last, we have created the no-adults island society from classic social science novel Lord of the Flies.
If you don’t, you lie.
Did you want a capybara today?
December 7, 2025 at 10:21 PM
If you don’t, you lie.
Gah; making BBQ chicken & the slow cooker and the smell is so delicious now it’s killing me. Need to hurry up with everything else!
December 7, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Gah; making BBQ chicken & the slow cooker and the smell is so delicious now it’s killing me. Need to hurry up with everything else!
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
"You're receiving this email, because you subscribed--"
NO, I did NOT. **hisses**
NO, I did NOT. **hisses**
December 7, 2025 at 5:36 PM
"You're receiving this email, because you subscribed--"
NO, I did NOT. **hisses**
NO, I did NOT. **hisses**
I love a book that at a certain point says “you’re not getting anything else done until I’m finished.” 📚 ☕️
December 7, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I love a book that at a certain point says “you’re not getting anything else done until I’m finished.” 📚 ☕️
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
The rule of thumb I have on this is that if it looks like consent (ie. voluntary, intentional act in furtherance of the primary goal of the data subject), but doesn't otherwise meet the conditions of GDPR consent, it's very likely a legitimate interest that also usually passes a balancing test.
Legitimate interest as a lawful basis for requiring the creation of user accounts on e-commerce websites
December 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
The rule of thumb I have on this is that if it looks like consent (ie. voluntary, intentional act in furtherance of the primary goal of the data subject), but doesn't otherwise meet the conditions of GDPR consent, it's very likely a legitimate interest that also usually passes a balancing test.
And now my head hurts too.
At what point do we acknowledge it’s not real money anymore? That all of this is tossing tech bro estimates of how much everything is worth into the fire, and not the real currency that pays people’s bills?
At what point do we acknowledge it’s not real money anymore? That all of this is tossing tech bro estimates of how much everything is worth into the fire, and not the real currency that pays people’s bills?
Sometimes, the very concept of big-business money makes my head hurt. So, Facebook's Metaverse fell through, wasting 77 billion.
You could hire 10,000 of the smartest people in the games industry, paying them each $100k a year, for an entire decade, and only spend $10bn.
You could hire 10,000 of the smartest people in the games industry, paying them each $100k a year, for an entire decade, and only spend $10bn.
December 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
And now my head hurts too.
At what point do we acknowledge it’s not real money anymore? That all of this is tossing tech bro estimates of how much everything is worth into the fire, and not the real currency that pays people’s bills?
At what point do we acknowledge it’s not real money anymore? That all of this is tossing tech bro estimates of how much everything is worth into the fire, and not the real currency that pays people’s bills?
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
If you value a millionaire more than other people, think about what you’re actually valuing.
December 7, 2025 at 9:10 AM
If you value a millionaire more than other people, think about what you’re actually valuing.
Reading Kwan’s “Rich People Problems”. There’s a line in the text: “Send it via WhatsApp. I think it’s supposed to be more secure.”
Me:
Me:
a dog is sitting on a rug with the words " do n't do it " on the bottom
Alt: a dog is sitting on a rug with the words " do n't do it " on the bottom
media.tenor.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Reading Kwan’s “Rich People Problems”. There’s a line in the text: “Send it via WhatsApp. I think it’s supposed to be more secure.”
Me:
Me:
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
I just want everyone to know that if we are connected on here, I’m rooting for you. For your career, your creative endeavor, your happiness, whatever you are chasing. I hope it happens for you!
December 7, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I just want everyone to know that if we are connected on here, I’m rooting for you. For your career, your creative endeavor, your happiness, whatever you are chasing. I hope it happens for you!
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
This article asks, "whether this is open to abuse", but imo, the very existence and implementation of this tech *IS* abuse.
No matter how "restricted" it is. No matter how little an employer uses it.
This is a level of surveillance that is inherently abusive.
No matter how "restricted" it is. No matter how little an employer uses it.
This is a level of surveillance that is inherently abusive.
microsoft promised to "empower every user" and google to "revolutionise knowledge and technological innovation" but in reality what they have given us is an invasive surveillance dystopian nightmare hard to escape
www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...
www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...
Microsoft Teams Starts Telling Your Boss Where You Are—Now Just 8 Weeks Away
Microsoft confirms start date for new Teams update — no more hiding places.
www.forbes.com
December 6, 2025 at 7:36 PM
This article asks, "whether this is open to abuse", but imo, the very existence and implementation of this tech *IS* abuse.
No matter how "restricted" it is. No matter how little an employer uses it.
This is a level of surveillance that is inherently abusive.
No matter how "restricted" it is. No matter how little an employer uses it.
This is a level of surveillance that is inherently abusive.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
did… did the dog write this recipe
December 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
did… did the dog write this recipe
Quick reminder: you have the right for your health information to be accurate & up to date under Nova Scotia’s Personal Health Information Act (PHIA).
If you can’t edit information directly, check the privacy policy. At minimum should be a contact who can direct requests.
If you can’t edit information directly, check the privacy policy. At minimum should be a contact who can direct requests.
Phew, if you're using the YourHealthNS app, the patient summary is worth a little check...
Mine reads like it's AI-generated, including hallucinations.
Mine reads like it's AI-generated, including hallucinations.
December 6, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Quick reminder: you have the right for your health information to be accurate & up to date under Nova Scotia’s Personal Health Information Act (PHIA).
If you can’t edit information directly, check the privacy policy. At minimum should be a contact who can direct requests.
If you can’t edit information directly, check the privacy policy. At minimum should be a contact who can direct requests.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
