Breach Notification
Call Queue Lines Notification
Date modified
Unauthorized Collection of Information Incident
The City of Hamilton would like to inform the public about an incident regarding unauthorized collection of information that the City of Hamilton identified and immediately addressed on August 15, 2024.
Following a thorough investigation, the City has confirmed that there is no evidence that personal information was inappropriately disclosed or accessed.
What Happened
The City’s telephone system was disabled by cybercriminals during the cybersecurity incident that the City identified on February 25, 2024. To continue delivering telephone customer service as an emergency solution, the City deployed an alternate telephone system that was still in the testing stage for future City use.
Upon deploying this alternate telephone system, the City activated a voice message that notifies callers that their calls are being recorded. However, the City did not verify that this voice message had been activated for eleven public-facing telephone lines.
As a result, 89,737 phone calls were recorded on these lines without caller authorization between March and August 2024. The City immediately turned off the recording function on the impacted lines upon discovering the issue on August 15, 2024.
How You Might be Affected
If you called one of the impacted phone lines between March and August 2024, your call may have been recorded without your authorization. The impacted lines directed callers to general inquiries and various City departments, including:
As a result, personal information contained within the recordings may have been collected without authorization. However, access to these recordings was restricted to a limited number of City staff as part of their normal responsibilities.
What the City is Doing
The City immediately turned off the recording function on the affected lines upon discovering the breach on August 15, 2024. The City retained the unauthorized recordings in a secure location until the investigation was completed. The recordings will be deleted. The impacted lines have been reactivated with the appropriate voice message notification to ensure compliance with privacy standards.
The City of Hamilton takes its responsibility of protecting the security of individuals and their personal information very seriously. We remain fully committed to upholding the highest standards of accountability and transparency. The City regrets this error and apologizes for any inconvenience or distress it may cause.
For More Information
If you are a City services user, no action is currently required.
Should there be any further information about the incident, we will provide updates on the City’s dedicated Breach Notification page.
The City will not contact you by email, text, or phone requesting that you provide or confirm any personal information.
The City has notified the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) of the breach. Individuals have the right to file a complaint with the IPC about their personal information through the following website www.ipc.on.ca/en/resources/information-individuals. While individuals are welcome to file a complaint, it is not required.
For more information related to this notification, review the frequently asked questions. For general information and assistance related to the privacy incident, please contact the City’s Customer Contact Centre at 905-546-2489 (CITY) or email [email protected]
Call Queue Lines FAQ
The City’s telephone system was disabled by cybercriminals during the cybersecurity incident that the City identified on February 25, 2024. To continue delivering telephone customer service as an emergency solution, the City deployed an alternate telephone system that was still in the testing stage for future City use.
Upon deploying this alternate telephone system, the City activated a voice message that notifies callers that their calls are being recorded. However, the City did not verify that this voice message had been activated for eleven public-facing telephone lines.
As a result, 89,737 phone calls were recorded on these lines without caller authorization between March and August 2024. The City immediately turned off the recording function on the impacted lines upon discovering the issue on August 15, 2024.
The City has thoroughly investigated, and there is no evidence that personal information was inappropriately disclosed or accessed.
If you called one of the impacted phone lines between March and August 2024, your call may have been recorded without your authorization. The impacted lines directed callers to general inquiries and various City departments, including:
As a result, personal information contained within the recordings may have been collected without authorization. However, access to these recordings was restricted to a limited number of City staff as part of their normal responsibilities.
The City has conducted a thorough investigation and confirmed there is no evidence that personal information was inappropriately disclosed or accessed. Upon discovering the breach, the City immediately disabled the recording function on the affected lines. Unauthorized recordings were securely retained until the investigation was completed and have now been permanently deleted. The telephone lines have been reactivated with the appropriate voice message notification in place.
The City has thoroughly investigated, and confirmed there is no evidence of personal information being inappropriately disclosed or accessed. If you are a City services user, no action is currently required on your part.
If you are a City services user, no action is currently required on your part. Should further information about the incident become available, we will provide updates on the City’s dedicated Privacy Breach Notification webpage.
The City has notified the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) of the breach. Individuals have the right to file a complaint with the IPC about their personal information through the following website www.ipc.on.ca/en/resources/information-individuals. While individuals are welcome to file a complaint, it is not required.
For general information and assistance related to the privacy incident, please contact the City’s Customer Contact Centre at 905-546-2489 (CITY) or email [email protected].
The City will not contact you by email, text, or phone requesting that you provide or confirm any personal information.
Like many organizations, the City records telephone calls for purposes such as customer service or quality assurance.
Under privacy regulations, organizations are required to notify individuals in advance if their calls are being recorded. In this case, the required notification was not provided on certain telephone lines, making the recordings unauthorized.