Released on January 23, 2003
The provincial government has been advised by ISM, a national computer and data management company, that a number of provincial agencies are among the company's clients affected by a missing computer hard drive. ISM provides contract computer services to private companies and government agencies."We are extremely concerned that a hard drive containing protected information has gone missing and we expect a full police investigation into the circumstance surrounding this loss," SPMC Minister Andrew Thomson said.
The hard drive went missing from a secure site at ISM that has restricted and regulated access. The data itself is not lost owing to routine back up procedures.
The government agencies with data on the missing hard drive include: Health, Finance, Public Employees Benefits Agency, Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation (SPMC), SaskPower, SaskTel, and the Workers Compensation Board. The level of sensitivity of the information resident on the missing hard drive varies.
The agencies have been working with ISM to determine the specific nature and detail of information stored on the hard drive. The information ranges from a small sample of physician billing information for a two week period ending November 5th, 2001; farm fuel rebate program information; annual pension plan member statements; industrial customer billing data from SaskPower, select SaskTel customer data; annuity benefits for injured workers from 1996 to 2001; and revenue and expenditure data from SPMC.
ISM advised the City of Regina Police Service about the missing hard drive and is also conducting its own internal investigation.
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