Privacy Commissioner notified in wake of data breach at Hamilton city hall

The City of Hamilton says it has notified the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario following a recent data breach at city hall.

The City of Hamilton failed to properly redact the private information of 32 individuals who registered as delegates for the annual budget meeting.

The city says it was made aware of the unintentional disclosure shortly after midnight on Jan. 16.

Acting City Clerk Janet Pilon says multiple steps have been taken to pull the information, notify the affected individuals and alert the privacy commissioner of Ontario of the breach.

“The City deeply regrets the error and apologizes for any distress it may cause those individuals who were impacted,” Pilon wrote in a statement to CHCH News.

“When hovering over the redacted area of individuals’ submission included in the GIC Budget – Addendum and Merged Agenda, email addresses of the individuals who registered as public meeting delegates were visible,” Pilon added.

In total, 32 registered emails could be viewed by anyone accessing the document.

READ MORE: Hamilton residents voice concerns at annual budget meeting

The privacy breach was fixed shortly after Mayor @AndreaHorwath and new City Manager Marnie Cluckie became involved.
Both of them took the matter seriously.
The City must now notify the individuals who had their private info published on the City website. #yhmcc #HamOnt

— Joey Coleman (@JoeyColeman) January 16, 2024