Canadian Privacy Decisions

This compliance letter concerns a privacy breach at Nova Scotia Power that began around March 19, 2025. A malware attack allowed a threat actor to access and exfiltrate sensitive customer information, including names, contact details, financial information, and SINs, affecting approximately 375,000 current and 540,000 former customers. Nova Scotia Power has committed to specific actions, including deleting customer SINs and undergoing an external security assessment, to address the breach. Upon the Commissioner's satisfaction with these commitments, the investigation will be discontinued.

• Adequacy of security safeguards following a significant data breach.
• Timeliness and method of notification to affected individuals.
• Collection and retention of Social Insurance Numbers (SINs).
• Breach response and remediation efforts.

An employee of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) complained that their personal information was inadvertently disclosed to colleagues due to improperly set folder permissions in the CBSA's information management system, Apollo. The CBSA confirmed the contravention of section 8 of the Privacy Act. While the CBSA took steps to correct the issue and improve practices, it did not commit to mandatory, trackable training for managing permissions, leading the OPC to find the complaint well-founded but unresolved.

• Whether CBSA contravened section 8 of the Privacy Act by improperly disclosing employee personal information.
• Adequacy of CBSA's response and corrective measures.
• Whether CBSA's training and awareness initiatives for managing information system permissions are sufficient.
• Whether the matter is resolved given CBSA's non-commitment to mandatory, trackable training.