The City of Corner Brook wishes to advise the public of a privacy breach involving the City of Corner Brook Voter’s List.   City of Corner Brook officials became aware that a directory on the City’s website which contained information from the City of Corner Brook’s Voter List was accessed by four IP addresses.  The information accessed from the Voter’s List included:

• Name, Address, Date of Birth, Polling Division and Polling Station.

The information accessed was not publically available to individuals browsing the City’s website. The information was accessed through a directory structure on the City’s website server. The server that hosts the website, did not have the directory-browse function disabled.  This function has been corrected and the directory-browse function has been disabled.  In addition, upon becoming aware of the incident, City staff contacted our web hosting provider and requested the voter’s list be removed from the server hosting the website.  This was done immediately

The City of Corner Brook deeply regrets this incident occurred.  It is unknown if the information from the voter list was viewed.  We can only confirm that the directory containing the voter list information was accessed.

In compliance with the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s Office and the ATIPPA Office has been notified.  As we move forward the City of Corner Brook will implement a privacy audit for new software purchases.  In addition we will continue education and training of staff on privacy issues and employees requirements as it relates to the ATIPPA Act.

If any member of the public has concerns with the breach they can contact the City of Corner Brook at (709) 637-1535.  Additionally, a complaint can also be submitted to the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s Office as follows:

Contact Numbers

Tel: (709) 729-6309
Fax: (709) 729-6500
Toll Free in Newfoundland and Labrador: 1-877-729-6309
e-mail: commissioner@oipc.nl.ca

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 13004, Station “A”  St. John’s, NL   A1B 3V8

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
City Clerk’s Office
(709) 637-1535

January 14, 2020: 2:45 pm