Canadian government class action alleges 2020 data breach compromised personal information of thousands

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Canadian government data breach class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Todd Sweet filed a class action lawsuit against Her Majesty the Queen as representative of the Government of Canada. 
• Why: Sweet claims the government was responsible for a data breach of a number of online government accounts by allegedly failing to properly secure portals that provide access to them. 
• Where: The Canadian government class action lawsuit was filed in Federal Court in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Canadian government failed to properly secure portals providing access to online government accounts, including My Service Canada Accounts, from approximately June to August 2020, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Todd Sweet claims he, and “what appears to be” thousands of other individuals, had their accounts left vulnerable to hackers who were able to commit identity theft and Canada Emergency Response Benefit fraud 

Sweet claims hackers were also able to access sensitive information during the Canadian government data breach, including Social Insurance Numbers, tax information, birthdates, employment records and direct deposit banking information, among other things. 

Thousands of individuals have subsequently suffered damages, Sweet argues, including identity theft, risk of future identity theft, damage to credit reputation, mental distress and financial losses, among other things. 

Canadian government data breach result of ‘systemic negligence’ according to lawsuit

The Canadian government is guilty of breach of confidence, systemic negligence and intrusion upon seclusion and is in violation of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, according to the lawsuit. 

The Canadian government, meanwhile, has asked that class certification not be granted for the proposed complaint, arguing that “none of the requirements for certification are met.” 

While the government acknowledges that it may “owe a private law duty of care to an individual,” in the event there has been “specific interactions between the government and the individual,” it argues Sweet has not “pleaded facts that would support a finding of proximity on this basis,” according to the Canadian government class action.

In related data breach news, consumers were also affected by a data breach in May that exposed the personal information of almost 100,000 Ikea Canada customers. 

Last month, meanwhile, StockX agreed to pay $130,000 to resolve claims the company failed to protect the personal information of its customers during a 2019 data breach. 

Were you impacted by the Canadian government data breach? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Anthony Leoni and Matthew Burtini of Rice Harbut Elliott LLP. 

The Canadian government data breach class action lawsuit is Sweet v. Her Majesty the Queen, Case No. T-982-20, in Federal Court in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

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