Personal information of 69,000 government employees mishandled

Around 69,000 government employees have been informed that their personal information was accidentally shared with the wrong people.

Federal workers’ full names, home addresses and payment details were detailed in a report and emailed to the wrong federal departments.

The report was sent to address problems with the Phoenix pay system, which is the electronic payroll system used by public servants. Tens of thousands of federal workers were improperly paid by the system. The email included the names and information of the employees who had been improperly paid.

“Our government takes privacy concerns and the protection of personal information very seriously and it is top of mind in the work we do at PSPC. We will take steps to ensure that this does not happen again and fully reevaluate the way in which personal information is stored and used,” said Anita Anand, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, to CTV News.

Public Services and Procurement Canada has said that it is reviewing how information is stored, and has launched an investigation following the breach.

This latest development is interesting, considering that this department isn’t the only agency to accidentally mishandle personal information.

Last week, the House of Commons revealed that the personal information of 144,000 Canadians was mishandled over the last two years by several federal departments and agencies.

Source: CTV News