More than 500 Chilliwack property owners found out this week that some of their personal information was stolen from a city employee’s vehicle.
Several of the affected property owners contacted The Chilliwack Progress with their concerns about the theft and to share the letter they received by mail from the City of Chilliwack corporate officer about the incident.
“The information in question was contained in a Property Tax Report, which only included the name and address associated with your property in Chilliwack,” according to the letter to the affected property owners in Chilliwack.
The letter alleges no financial information was “compromised” and reminds owners that their names and addresses are already publicly available “through the assessment roll and the land title registry.”
One property owner wrote to The Progress: “In this day and age why would any information be carried around in non-encrypted format?”
The City of Chilliwack has notified 584 Chilliwack property owners to date, to say the report with names and addresses of the owners was stolen from a city employee’s vehicle on Dec. 19, confirmed city spokesperson Liana Wiebe on Dec. 31.
“Although the City has no reason to believe the vehicle thief was targeting this information, out of an abundance of caution, staff have advised the individuals to monitor their financial accounts.
“The City sincerely apologies for this incident, and for the distress that it may cause.”
Staff have been since reminded about policies around protecting personal information while working outside city hall.
The incident was reported to the police and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. City officials will be cooperating fully with these agencies, but will be making “no further comment” publicly on the matter.
READ MORE: Lab testing company didn’t have enough privacy safeguards
READ MORE: Class action alleges misuse of personal info
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: jfeinberg@theprogress.com
@CHWKjournoLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.
