City contacts Privacy Commissioner following information breach

HAMILTON, ON – The City of Hamilton has contacted the provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner following an online privacy breach that may have impacted the email addresses, residential addresses and/or telephone numbers of a number of individuals who registered as public meeting delegates.

The City regrets this error and apologizes for any distress it may cause. The City has contacted all individuals affected to inform them of the breach and to apologize.

On January 16, 2024, the City was made aware of an online privacy breach regarding the email addresses of 32 individuals who had registered as public meeting delegates.

Based on information known at the time of the breach, affected individuals were notified that their email addresses were impacted by the breach. Upon further review, it was found that the information the City originally shared with those impacted and the public was not fully accurate. The breach was also found to have included individuals’ phone numbers and residential addresses.

Upon being made aware, the City removed the personal information affecting the 32 individuals subject to this breach on the January 16 General Issues Committee Budget - Addendum and Merged Agenda. 

The City’s review included documents on the City’s eScribe system, the online system that houses Council meeting agendas and reports, and provides access to online Council and Committee meetings. It was found that initial redactions of the public delegation documents used an unsupported redaction method. The subsequent review concluded that a total of 59 public delegations from 2023-2024 were impacted by the error, affecting 59 individuals.

To address this error, the City has taken the following actions:

• All impacted documents have been re-redacted using the appropriate technology and re-published to eScribe.
• All of the individuals impacted have been alerted of the breach and advised on the steps the City has taken to address the breach.
• The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has been advised of the breach.

While it is believed this is the extent of the online breach, the City wants to assure the public that we are taking steps to learn from this incident, ensure the error is not repeated, and strengthen our organization. As part of our commitment to transparency and continuous improvement, the City of Hamilton will be implementing measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. This may include comprehensive staff training programs, process improvements and enhanced confidentiality protocols. Additionally, the City understands the significance of this matter and will be conducting a thorough review of the circumstances leading to the breach to make any necessary improvements. The City is committed to taking concrete actions to address this matter and prevent future reoccurrence.

The City of Hamilton takes its responsibility of protecting the security of individuals and their personal information very seriously and is fully committed to upholding the highest standards of accountability and transparency. The City recognizes the seriousness of this breach and apologizes for any distress it may cause those individuals affected.