How big data uses your digital footprint

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Bell Canada is launching Bell Cyber, a new brand under its growing tech services umbrella which it says will offer AI-powered cybersecurity solutions. Bell Canada signage is pictured on a building in Ottawa on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Bell launches Bell Cyber, building on AI and tech services umbrella

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Bell launches Bell Cyber, building on AI and tech services umbrella

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

TORONTO - Bell Canada is launching Bell Cyber, a new brand under its growing tech services umbrella which will offer AI-powered cybersecurity solutions.

The company made the announcement Tuesday at its inaugural Bell Cybersecurity Summit in Toronto, which heard from Bell Cyber's leadership, government and law enforcement officials, as well as other industry stakeholders.

It said Bell Cyber unifies all of the company's cybersecurity capabilities under a single brand. It also complements Bell's other recent tech announcements, such as the launch of Bell AI Fabric and tech services brand Ateko.

Bell Cyber is the branding successor to Stratejm, a Mississauga, Ont.-based security services provider acquired by Bell in July 2024. The company has specialized in providing end-to-end security solutions with the use of artificial intelligence, including real-time threat detection and response.

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Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws a pass under pressure from Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. (3) in the second half of an NFL football game Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
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Onslaught of sports betting ads make gambling seem enticing to youth, doctors say

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Onslaught of sports betting ads make gambling seem enticing to youth, doctors say

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

TORONTO - Doctors are calling for restrictions on sports betting ads, saying they are setting youth up for a future of problem gambling.

An editorial published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday says the ads are everywhere during sports broadcasts and that the legalization of online gambling has made every smartphone a potential betting platform.

Editor Dr. Shannon Charlebois says even though betting sites say they're only for people 19 years of age and older, youth are being inundated with advertising that equates enjoying sports with betting.

She says child and teen brains are still developing and the constant exposure to gambling messages normalizes harmful behaviour that they can carry into adulthood

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Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025
Researchers say that as AI chatbots become more commonplace, companies must find ways to alleviate concerns about trust, while balancing them with old-fashioned human-to-human conversations. A person uses a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Building trust key as companies pivot to chatbots for customer service: experts

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Preview

Building trust key as companies pivot to chatbots for customer service: experts

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

TORONTO - Mohammed Halabi has spent countless hours negotiating with customer service agents over the past 20 years.

Halabi is the director of MyBillsAreHigh.com, a company that finds savings on telecom and internet costs for both businesses and individuals. That means seeking out the best deals to fit clients' circumstances, plus taking the lead when problems arise requiring the attention of their provider.

These days, there's just one problem. He can't seem to get anyone on the phone.

"I've never seen customer service this bad," said Halabi.

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025
Senior Investigative Officer with Saskatchewan RCMP’s Major Crimes Branch Ashley St. Germaine speaks during a press conference regarding an ongoing investigation in Richmound, Sask., in Regina, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

Health officials declare ‘Queen of Canada’s’ compound a threat to public safety

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Health officials declare ‘Queen of Canada’s’ compound a threat to public safety

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Monday, Sep. 22, 2025

RICHMOUND - Provincial officials in Saskatchewan say parts of a former school that was serving as a compound for the self-proclaimed "Queen of Canada" and her followers have been declared unfit for human habitation, and the residents have been ordered out.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority says in an email that occupancy of the building in Richmound is prohibited under Section 22 of the Public Health Act, on the basis that the premises is a multi-person residence and is not connected to the municipal sewer system.

The email says an order was issued for anyone who was currently occupying the building to vacate, although it notes the order covers the building only, and not trailers on the site.

Police arrested the group's leader, Romana Didulo, property owner Ricky Manz and 14 others on Wednesday in the village west of Regina, after obtaining a search warrant to enter the site.

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Monday, Sep. 22, 2025
Thriller novelist Andrea Bartz is photographed in her home, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025 (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion to settle lawsuit over pirated books used to train AI chatbots

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion to settle lawsuit over pirated books used to train AI chatbots

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 6 minute read Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit by book authors who say the company took pirated copies of their works to train its chatbot.

The landmark settlement, if approved by a judge as soon as Monday, could mark a turning point in legal battles between AI companies and the writers, visual artists and other creative professionals who accuse them of copyright infringement.

The company has agreed to pay authors or publishers about $3,000 for each of an estimated 500,000 books covered by the settlement.

“As best as we can tell, it’s the largest copyright recovery ever,” said Justin Nelson, a lawyer for the authors. “It is the first of its kind in the AI era.”

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Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025
FILE - The OpenAI logo appears on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with random binary data, March 9, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Attorneys general warn OpenAI and other tech companies to improve chatbot safety

Matt O'brien And Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Attorneys general warn OpenAI and other tech companies to improve chatbot safety

Matt O'brien And Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

The attorneys general of California and Delaware on Friday warned OpenAI they have “serious concerns” about the safety of its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, especially for children and teens.

The two state officials, who have unique powers to regulate nonprofits such as OpenAI, sent the letter to the company after a meeting with its legal team earlier this week in Wilmington, Delaware.

California AG Rob Bonta and Delaware AG Kathleen Jennings have spent months reviewing OpenAI's plans to restructure its business, with an eye on “ensuring rigorous and robust oversight of OpenAI’s safety mission.”

But they said they were concerned by “deeply troubling reports of dangerous interactions between" chatbots and their users, including the "heartbreaking death by suicide of one young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot, as well as a similarly disturbing murder-suicide in Connecticut. Whatever safeguards were in place did not work.”

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025
The ChatGPT app icon is seen on a smartphone screen on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

AI chatbots changing online threat landscape as Ottawa reviews legislation

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 8 minute read Preview

AI chatbots changing online threat landscape as Ottawa reviews legislation

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 8 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

OTTAWA - Wrongful death lawsuits citing the activities of artificial intelligence chatbots are underway in the United States, as reports emerge of mental health issues and delusions induced by AI systems.

These incidents are drawing attention to the changing nature of the online threat landscape — just weeks after the Liberal government said it would review its online harms bill before reintroducing it in Parliament.

"Since the legislation was introduced, I think it's become all the more clear that tremendous harm can be facilitated by AI, and we're seeing that in particular in the space of chatbots and some of the tragedies," said Emily Laidlaw, Canada research chair in cybersecurity law at the University of Calgary.

The Online Harms Act, which died on the order paper when the election was called, would have required social media companies to outline how they plan to reduce the risks their platforms pose to users, and would have imposed on them a duty to protect children.

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025
Supplied The remains of one of the covered players bench that was burnt in a fire started be a group of youths at the Bonivital Soccer Club.

Soccer facility closed after purposely set fire destroys $25,000 covered bench, damages turf

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Preview

Soccer facility closed after purposely set fire destroys $25,000 covered bench, damages turf

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Police are searching for suspects after a group of people torched a players bench at the Bonivital Soccer Club in the early morning hours Thursday.

“It’s pretty disheartening,” Steven Gzebb, the club’s executive director, said by phone Friday.

“Certainly, a moment of disbelief that someone would go to that extent and do something like that.”

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Claude Chancy confirmed the incident is being investigated as arson. As of Friday afternoon, no arrests had been made, he said.

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025
FILE - The OnlyFans logo is displayed on a computer monitor in this posed photo, Dec. 7, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Online age checks are proliferating, but so are concerns they curtail internet freedom

Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Online age checks are proliferating, but so are concerns they curtail internet freedom

Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press 7 minute read Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

Online age checks are on the rise in the U.S. and elsewhere, asking people for IDs or face scans to prove they are over 18 or 21 or even 13. To proponents, they're a tool to keep children away from adult websites and other material that might be harmful to them.

But opponents see a worrisome trend toward a less secure, less private and less free internet, where people can be denied access not just to pornography but news, health information and the ability to speak openly and anonymously.

“I think that many of these laws come from a place of good intentions,” said Jennifer Huddleston, a senior technology policy fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “Certainly we all want to protect young people from harmful content before they’re ready to see it.”

More than 20 states have passed some kind of age verification law, though many face legal challenges. While no such law exists on the federal level in the United States, the Supreme Court recently allowed a Mississippi age check law for social media to stand. In June, the court upheld a Texas law aimed at preventing minors from watching pornography online, ruling that adults don't have a First Amendment right to access obscene speech without first proving their age.

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Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025
FILE - Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne looks to throw a pass during the second half of an NCAA college football game against California, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

NCAA partners with Venmo to assist athletes who face harassment on the payment app

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

NCAA partners with Venmo to assist athletes who face harassment on the payment app

The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Venmo announced a partnership Tuesday with the NCAA to support athletes who face harassment on the payment app, which has embraced its popularity on college campuses with school spirit-branded debit cards and an option for athletes to receive money from their school directly in the PayPal app.

The partnership includes a reporting hotline for athletes and the NCAA to call in potential cases of abuse, such as when former Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said he received payment requests from angry sports bettors following a loss last season.

“The harassment we are seeing across various online platforms is unacceptable, and we need fans to do better," NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a news release. “We applaud Venmo for taking action, and we need more social media companies and online platforms to do the same.”

Venmo said it would provide a best-practices guide for athletes to “stay safe” on its platform.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025