Privacy and Protection of Personal Data is Your Responsibility

Protection of Private and Personal Data is Everyone's ResponsibilityA recent audit by the office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has found that a certain big box store has not been properly removing customer data from returned laptops and storage devices before reselling them.  CBC News reports that Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddard said these findings are 'particularly disappointing' given that her office has investigated previous complaints involving returned storage devices in 2004 and 2008, and Staples Business Depot had committed to corrective action at that time.

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Identity Theft: Canadian Passports Are A Target

Canadian Passports Are Being Stolen More And More OftenNew US passport requirements for Canadian and other western travelers apear to have led to a surge in the number of Canadian passports reported to heve been stolen annually, according to numbers released by Passport Canada.

Before 2006, about 25,000 passports were reportedly lost or stolen annually. That number jumped to almost 43,000 in 2006-07, coinciding with a surge in demand because of new U.S. passport requirements for Canadian and other western travellers. By 2008-09, it was 53,000. Now, it's hit 60,781.

But only in the latest annual report has Passport Canada broken down the combined "lost and stolen" total and publicly revealed the extent of the theft problem.

While Passport Canada tried to downplay the problem, the RCMP believe the matter is a national security concern because of the number of stolen passports that end up in the hands of criminals or terrorists.

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