The Times Colonist has an editorial about a breach reported previously on this blog. The editors point out that it was their reports who uncovered what should have been revealed by the government and that there are many as yet unanswered questions. Kudos to the reporters, Lindsay Kines and Rob Shaw, and the Times Colonist for staying on this issue:
The B.C. Liberal government is abandoning openness and accountability in the privacy breach scandal that has seen two employees fired and at least 1,400 British Columbians’ personal information and privacy rights breached.
The government knew in April that the RCMP had discovered the confidential files in an employee’s home during a search connected to a fraud investigation.
But the 1,400 people weren’t warned that they were at risk of identity theft for seven months. The employees involved were not fired or suspended for five months. They remained on the job through that period.
And the public was never told of the problems by the government. All the information was uncovered by Times Colonist reporters Lindsay Kines and Rob Shaw.
They have continued to unearth information the government has chosen not to reveal, including the discovery this week that one of the fired employees had been convicted of theft, unauthorized use of credit card data and passing counterfeit bills in 2004. He was hired by the government three years later and had access to people’s personal information.
That raised obvious questions of public concern that go beyond this case.
But the government is refusing to provide answers.
Read the rest of the editorial in the Vancouver Sun.