Breach, Data Security

Wildfire breach affects 15,000

British Columbia's provincial government is notifying 15,000 individuals after a privacy breach in its Wildfire Management Branch.

On September 24, an unauthorized user accessed databases within the organization, the government said.

The name, gender and contact information of past firefighter job applicants may have been compromised, it admitted. Their date of birth, drivers license number and job evaluation information may also have been seen.

It wasn't a good month for government privacy in Canada. Alberta Health Services was forced to notify 5,000 patients after a laptop was stolen from a Lethbridge sleep clinic.

The laptop was not owned by AHS, but it did have a database with patient names and addresses, the organization said. It also included dates of services and the types of equipment that was used by the clinic. The database was password protected, but not encrypted, it said.

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