Why contracting with Equifax credit bureau?
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada contracted the services of this credit bureau so that credit and identity protection services could be offered to affected clients.
At this time, HRSDC has no evidence that any of the information on the hard drive has been accessed or used for fraudulent purposes.
Who will benefit from these credit protection services?
This credit and identity protection will be made available to the approximately 583,000 Canadians whose information was on a missing HRSDC hard drive containing information on Canada Student Loans clients.
How to register to receive these credit protection services
The Department is providing guidance on how to begin receiving the credit protection services from Equifax and has posted information on its website - http://www.canlearn.ca/eng/main/spotlighton/privacy/index.shtml. HRSDC is seeking the consent of those potentially affected prior to providing their personal information to Equifax for the purposes of providing credit protection to affected clients.
Those wishing to receive this credit protection first need to provide their consent by calling the HRSDC toll free number at 1-866-885-1866 within North America. For calls from outside of North America, affected citizens can call 1-416-572-1113 and dial 0 to speak to an operator in order to reverse the charges. Callers with a hearing or speech impairment and who use a teletypewriter (TTY) can call at 1-800-263-5883.
No negative impacts on affected Canadians' credit ratings
Having a notation added to a credit file will not have a negative impact on clients' credit ratings.
Cost to affected Canadians
These credit and identity protection services will be made available for free to all Canadians potentially affected by the missing HRSDC hard drive.
What else is HRSDC doing about this situation?
The Minister has directed that the overall policy for security and storage of personal information at HRSDC be strengthened and improved. The highlights are:
-- New, stricter protocols have been implemented. Portable hard drives are no longer permitted. Unapproved USB keys are not to be connected to the network;-- Immediate risk assessments of all portable security devices used in the Department's work environment to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place; these assessments will continue on a regular, ongoing basis;-- Mandatory training for all employees regarding the proper handling of sensitive information, including personal information;-- Implementation of new data loss prevention technology, which can be configured to control or prevent the transfer of sensitive information;-- Disciplinary measures implemented for staff, up to and including termination, should the strict codes of privacy and security not be followed.
In addition, HRSDC has initiated a number of other concrete measures in response:
-- SIN records on the Social Insurance Register have been annotated to indicate the SIN was involved in an incident of loss. The department will notify individuals for whom we have current contact information if there are any attempts to request changes to information on SIN records or to obtain a SIN card. The Government does not charge fees for monitoring Social Insurance Numbers.-- The matter has been referred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) by the Office of the Minister.-- The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has also been informed of the incident.-- The Department is currently investigating the missing hard drive, and search efforts continue.
At this time, HRSDC has no evidence that any of the information on the hard drive has been accessed or used for fraudulent purposes.
All details on this incident and how Canadians can protect their personal information are available at http://www.canlearn.ca/eng/main/spotlighton/privacy/adi.shtml
Contacts:
Alyson Queen
Director of Communications
Office of Minister Finley
819-994-2482
Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
819-994-5559
