Some student loan borrowers report identity theft in wake of data ...

OTTAWA?A lawyer involved in a class-action lawsuit against the federal government over a massive data breach says that some of the people who have contacted his office about getting involved in the legal action have been the subject of identity theft.

And in an effort to prevent further data losses, the department at the centre of the breach has ordered all regional offices to return ?unapproved USB sticks? to Ottawa for destruction.

Bob Buckingham said that among the 12,000?Canada Student Loans recipients that have contacted his office to become part of the class-action lawsuit are people who have reported being victims of identity theft, although it isn?t clear if that?s a result of a missing external hard drive containing the?personal information, including social insurance numbers, of about 583,000 Canadians.

Should it be, it would add to the growing legal challenges facing Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), which now faces three different class-action lawsuits over the two-month old data loss only made public earlier this month.

?At that point, you?ve gone from a concern and suspicion to a known fact that it?s fallen into the wrong hands,? Buckingham said in a telephone interview from his office in St. John?s, N.L. ?That is going to heighten the fear of Canadians. Now it is just a concern and a fear that it could happen.?

In an email to Postmedia News, the department said it had no evidence that the ?information on the hard drive has been accessed or used for fraudulent purposes.?

Buckingham argued the potential for harm was reason enough for the government to put aside money to cover the cost of credit monitoring for those affected for as long as their identities remain at risk of being stolen. He said he wants to raise the matter directly with Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, who he wrote to Thursday requesting a meeting.

The call from Buckingham echoes a call from the Liberal critic on the file, Rodger Cuzner, who wrote to Finley saying that ?Canadians should not have to pay for the mistakes of this government.?

HRSDC did not say Friday evening if it was considering setting up such a fund.

Although the case law on liability in data losses of this kind is relatively small in Canada, the class action lawsuits filed in Federal Court and two provincial courts ? Alberta and Manitoba ? should force an ideological change in how the government handles the personal information of Canadians, Buckingham said.

?This is a turning point. It will be a turning point and it?s going to be a wake-up call for the government,? he said.

On Jan. 11, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada admitted that it?had lost a hard drive with the personal information of about 583,000 Canada Student Loans borrowers?between 2000 and 2006. The unencrypted, unprotected hard drive?included names, social insurance numbers, dates of birth, addresses and loan balances?? more than enough information for criminals to steal someone?s identity.

Student loan recipients from Quebec, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are not affected.

That loss followed the loss of a USB memory key from the same department in late 2012 that contained the personal information of more than 5,000 Canadians.

Canada?s privacy commissioner and the RCMP have started investigations into the most recent incident, where an unencrypted hard drive was noticed missing from an HRSDC office in Gatineau, Que., in early November. Finley admitted last week that staff violated?government guidelines on securing and handling information, including encrypting the data as an extra layer of security against theft of information.?Finley?s office has said there will be ?disciplinary measures? meted out and mandatory training for workers handling information.

?The minister has directed that the overall policy for security and storage of personal information at HRSDC be strengthened,? the department said in an email Friday. ?Among the measures being implemented is that unapproved USB sticks are no longer to be connected to the network. These USB sticks are being collected and returned to national headquarters for destruction, in accordance with approved procedures and to provide assurance that destruction protocols are followed to the letter, to meet our due diligence.?

Buckingham filed his lawsuit in Federal Court Thursday. The government now has 30 days to file a response. The class action lawsuit would have to be certified by a judge within 90 days and then it could proceed through the legal system.

HRSDC is attempting to contact those affected by the breach. The department has also set up a toll-free number for anyone to call and check if they are affected. The number is?1-866-885-1866.

Source: http://o.canada.com/2013/01/18/some-student-loan-borrowers-subject-of-identity-theft-in-wake-of-data-loss-lawyer-says/

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