By Leah Murray - CHAT News

Privacy Commissioner says Avenue Living privacy breach poses a risk

May 28, 2018 | 11:31 PM

MEDICINE HAT  —  A company that operates apartment buildings in several Alberta communities, including Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer has had a privacy breach.

Avenue Living issued a notification in the newspaper in Medicine Hat on May 25th.

It says there is a risk tenants’ personal information was stolen and sold for criminal purposes. A company representative said it doesn’t believe anyone in Medicine Hat has been directly impacted.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) began conducting a review of the breach after it was notified in December 2017.

The report states that Calgary Police began conducting a criminal investigation concerning the fraudulent use of personal information to apply for credit cards. CPS informed Avenue Living there was a possible connection to several of its tenants.

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: January 6-12, 2025

Jan 07, 2025

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: December 30 - January 5, 2025

Dec 30, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: December 16-22, 2024

Dec 17, 2024

Through the investigation by police, and an internal investigation by Avenue Living, it was determined an employee accessed the organization’s server after hours using a personal device.

The employee, who has since been fired, used a personal device to remotely access a server housing tenant applications between August and December 2016. The information which was stolen included names, birth dates, social insurance numbers, email addresses and signatures. The documentation was then sold and used to fraudulently purchase credit cards.

It’s believed around 30 people have been directly impacted, but Jill Clayton, the province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, expressed concern that more people could potentially be affected.

“Based on the information before me and given the circumstances of the incident, in my view a reasonable person would consider there is a real risk of significant harm to those individuals whose personal information was stored in lease application forms on the server at the time the former employee had unauthorized access,” she states in her report.

“The likelihood of harm resulting from this incident is increased because personal information on the server was accessed by an unauthorized employee with malicious intent and for criminal purposes.”

The employee performed minor data entry functions and had access to work orders for repairs or complaints about other tenants or property. The former employee also had access to hard copies of residential lease agreements.

Avenue Living operates several apartment buildings in Alberta and Saskatchewan including those in Medicine Hat, Brooks, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Swift Current.

CHAT News in Medicine Hat has reached out to the Calgary Police Service for more information on the individual in question. The report from the Privacy Commissioner suggests a criminal case is currently before the courts.

CHAT News also reached out to Avenue Living for an interview. The company is expected to speak on the privacy breach on Tuesday.