B.C. privacy watchdog launches investigation into Crime Stoppers data breach - Yahoo News Canada
British Columbia's privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into whether the provincial Crime Stoppers society adequately protected personal information following a massive data breach affecting more than 1.5 million tips.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for B.C. (OIPC) announced Tuesday it's investigating whether the B.C. Crime Stoppers met its obligation under the Personal Information Protection Act to safeguard personal information. Last month, a CBC investigation revealed more than 1.5 million tips submitted to Canadian Crime Stoppers programs over the past 25 years were exposed in a massive data breach.
The data was stolen last March by hacktivist collective Internet Yiff Machine, which claimed in a manifesto to disprove P3 Global Intel's assertion that the Crime Stoppers platform was "anonymous" and "secure." The company manages tips for Crime Stoppers.
Breach details
Crime Stoppers is a network of civilian-run non-profits that collects anonymous tips on crime and suspicious activity, referring some to law enforcement while promising anonymity to tipsters. Many compromised tips contained serious allegations with some people explicitly fearing retribution.
A third of all tips concerned drugs and drug trafficking; hundreds reported suspicious activity, often naming individuals and implicating organized crime groups including the Hells Angels, Rock Machine, Outlaws, B.C.'s Red Scorpions and Independent Soldiers.
Response measures
This pause is temporary. We will begin accepting new tips as soon as we are confident it is safe to do so.
The breach has prompted several police agencies and Crime Stoppers chapters across Canada to temporarily suspend participation or stop accepting tips. Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers has posted a notice on its website asking people not to submit information until further notice.
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