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Military Sexual Misconduct Settlement Breach Overview:
- Who: Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien is requesting more information about a breach of private information for claimants of the federal government’s military sexual misconduct class action settlement.
- Why: Therrien is inquiring about what happened following a report by the Canadian Press that personal information had been inadvertently released to another class member.
- Where: The class action settlement involves current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Canada’s federal privacy commissioner is requesting more information following a report that a breach led to the release of personal information in the military sexual misconduct class action settlement.
The office of Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien said it had not been notified of any breaches occurring prior to seeing the report and is now contacting military officials and the company running the claims portal to find out what is going on, Global News Reports.
The Canadian Press reported last week that the company in charge of administering the $900 million class action settlement had accidentally released the private information of dozens of claimants.
The settlement, which is being provided by the federal government, is meant to compensate survivors of sexual misconduct while in the military.
Breach Blamed On Human Error
The breach, which reportedly was confirmed by Epiq Class Action Services Canada, came to light after retired master corporal Amy Green reached out by email to disclose she had received letters intended for more than 40 other people, according to the Canadian Press report.
Green told the Canadian Press she was sent information, including names, claim numbers and email addresses, which she says would enable her to access some of the claimants’ files.
Epiq Class Action Services Canada has blamed the breach on human error, Global News reports.
Angela Hoidas, vice-president of marketing and communications for Epiq, told the Canadian Press via email that the company has already implemented new policies to ensure it couldn’t happen again.
“Epiq fully understands the importance of protecting personal information and sincerely regrets this error,” Hoidas wrote. “We have notified counsel for parties in the case as well as those affected claimants, all of whom have received our deepest apologies.”
According to Hoidas, the data, which she says was limited and pertained to less than 100 people, was accidentally shared with a member of the settlement class; however, she said the claimant would not have been able to log into and access a private file, Global News reports.
“There is no ability to externally access any uploaded files or any claimant information whatsoever,” Hoidas wrote in a subsequent email to the Canadian Press.
A total of 19,466 Canadians submitted claims to be included in the class action settlement, according to Global News, which began reporting last Februrary on allegations of sexual misconduct against senior military leaders.
The class action lawsuit was originally settled in 2019 and opened to claimants in May 2020.
What do you think of the report that claimants personal information was inadvertently released? Let us know in the comments!
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3 thoughts onMilitary Sexual Misconduct Class Action Settlement Claimants’ Personal Information Released
Im a member of the class action still waiting for my first payout please add me to your list. Something is not right here.
If they originally denied or ‘played down’ the scale of the breach, how can they be trusted to have notified all who were involved in the breach? The application process promised the highest level of confidentiality…seems like that was not the case. As a class member, I am deeply concerned. Please add me
If they originally denied or ‘played down’ the scale of the breach, how can they be trusted to have notified all who were involved in the breach? The application process promised the highest level of confidentiality…seems like that was not the case.