Province to begin informing people at lower risk from recent privacy breach

CITYnews halifax \ By Mark Hodgins

More Nova Scotians will soon be getting letters letting them know they’ve been impacted by the recent privacy breach to the province’s MOVEit software.

Tens of thousands of people in a number of different sectors had data stolen in that global breach earlier this year.

Government said Tuesday that the next phase of letters will be going to people who had “less sensitive” information stolen, meaning they’re at a lower risk of fraud or identity theft. The province says because of that lower risk, they won’t be offered credit monitoring coverage.

“We made the decision about offering credit monitoring and fraud protection carefully, considering best practice. We have also discussed this and other issues with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner as we move forward with our breach response,” Cyber Security Minister Colton LeBlanc said in a release.

The release also says government is almost done informing people who did have significant information stolen. It says about 81,000 civil servants and healthcare workers have already been offered credit monitoring and fraud protection. About 44,000 certified teachers will be receiving those letters “soon”.