Minister of Labour and Immigration Jason Copping. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

Province reports privacy issue with Critical Worker Benefit, employee info now secure

Mar 5, 2021 | 12:45 PM

EDMONTON, AB – The Government of Alberta says the personal information of over 200 workers was made temporarily accessible by other employers who were applying for a new benefit program.

Last month, Premier Jason Kenney announced the Critical Worker Benefit (CWB), a one-time payment of $1,200 for some essential workers in Alberta.

READ MORE: Kenney announces $1,200 payments for “critical workers” in Alberta

Employers are required to apply for the program on behalf of their employees.

On Friday, Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping says they were made aware of a technical problem on the CWB’s web portal.

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“After investigating the matter, it was determined that the personal information of 224 employees could be viewed by other employers when using the application portal.”

“We can confirm the information was in no way accessed or shared outside of the portal. We want to assure Albertans that the information entered into the Critical Worker Benefit application portal remains secure from the public.”

Copping adds that, as soon as this came to their attention, they took “immediate action” and temporarily shut down the website.

The issue has reportedly been resolved.

“I want to apologize to those employees who have been affected by this unfortunate situation,” says Copping. “We are working with employers to contact affected employees directly and, as a precaution, the Government of Alberta will be providing credit monitoring to affected employees to ensure the protection of their identities, personal information and credit.”

“All affected employees will be contacted as soon as possible. If someone does not receive such a notification, they have not been affected and do not need to be concerned about their personal information submitted through the program,” reads a media release from the government.

The province says they are taking every step possible, including working with the privacy commissioner, to ensure nothing like this happens again.

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