NDP statement on Bell Canada data breach

NDP Public Safety Critic, Matthew Dubé, made the following statement:

“As it was revealed by the Globe and Mail today, police are investigating a new data breach at Bell Canada, where hackers have illegally obtained the personal information of up to 100,000 customers.

Companies that have access to Canadians' personal data must be transparent and accountable to the government. While in this instance, Bell Canada made the right decision by contacting all those affected by the breach, companies affected by such breaches should be required to inform individuals whose data is compromised.

Similar cases at Uber and Equifax have recently shown that without being required by law to do so, relying on a company's good will to inform Canadians that their personal information has been hacked is not a good plan: both have decided to leave the Canadian public in the dark. That is unacceptable.

Last fall, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) launched two investigations, one into Equifax and one into Uber. The NDP eagerly awaits the outcome of these important investigations and intends to keep pressuring the government to implement all of their recommendations. This worrying and growing trend of massive data breaches of Canadians' private information must stop.”