Fair Vote Canada has disclosed a data leak affecting approximately 34,000 email addresses.
While the organization assures that no financial information was compromised, the incident has raised concerns about data security practices.
Fair Vote Canada revealed that the breach involved data from 2020, which inadvertently became publicly accessible via an external website.
The exposed information included names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, and details about donations, such as dates and amounts for some individuals.
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Significantly, no credit card or banking information was leaked. The organization traced the source of the leak to a well-meaning volunteer who had been granted temporary access to the data for a specific task.
Unknown to Fair Vote Canada, this volunteer moved the data to a website where insufficient security measures led to accidental exposure.
Details of the Data Leak
Upon discovering the leak, Fair Vote Canada swiftly removed and deleted the data from the unauthorized location.
Valerie Brooks and Steve Hindle, Co-Chairs of Fair Vote Canada, emphasized their commitment to data security in a statement: “We understand that this data exposure, even without malicious intent or evidence of misuse, is troubling and unacceptable.”
Fair Vote Canada has implemented immediate measures to restrict database access exclusively to staff and contractors in response to the incident.
The organization is also adopting stricter digital security procedures to prevent future occurrences.
Fair Vote Canada has regretted the incident and is taking proactive steps to reassure its supporters.
The organization is urging anyone with questions or concerns to reach out via their official email.
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