A division of the Canadian federal government has lost a hard drive containing the personal information of 583,000 clients of the Canada Student Loans Program.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) issued an advisory on the privacy breach on January 11.
The hard drive contains information on students who took out loans between 2000 and 2006. The missing information includes students’ names, social insurance numbers, birth dates, contact information, and loan balance. The breach affects students from all provinces, except for those in Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories.
The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) say they have been getting numerous inquiries from students who are concerned about whether this breach affects them personally, and what it means to have their personal information compromised.
“These are students who are already burdened with huge student debts,” says Michael Walsh, the Newfoundland and Labrador CFS chairperson. “They already have the stress of trying to work to pay off these huge debts and now they have the added stress of wondering if their personal information is in the hands of a stranger.”
Walsh believes that this breach highlights a larger problem of postsecondary tuition fees for Canadian students.
“The fact that so many students across the country are forced to borrow in order to finance their education is the reason that we have a situation of such magnitude right now,” says Walsh. “This shows that we have a system of postsecondary education in Canada where largely, students have to finance their education on debt.”
Adam Awad, national chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students, agrees that the security breach points to a larger problem.
“If we just funded education properly across the country, we wouldn’t have to deal with this all,” says Awad.
The Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) issued a statement on the breach on January 11.
“I want all Canadians to know that I have expressed my disappointment to departmental officials at this unacceptable and avoidable incident in handling Canadians’ personal information,” said minister Diane Finley in the statement. “On behalf of our government, I want to reassure Canadians that we are serious about protecting their personal information. As minister, I will ensure that every effort is taken so that HRSDC meets the expectations of Canadians in keeping their information safe and secure.”
There is no indication that any of the information has been accessed, but all affected accounts have been put on high alert. The situation is under investigation by the RCMP.
Students are encouraged to call the HRSDC’s hotline (1-866-885-1866) if they suspect they are affected by the breach.