Thousands of Canadians may be impacted by Equifax hack: CAA

Equifax Canada is facing intensifying calls for transparency on its massive cyberhack as the Canadian Automobile Association informs thousands of its members that their data may have been compromised and frustrated consumers ask questions about why they’re being treated worse than their U.S. counterparts.

CAA said Thursday it partnered with Equifax on its identity protection program and is notifying the roughly 10,000 members who participated that they may have had sensitive data divulged in the security breach made public last week.

The auto organization’s program required members to register their personal information such as credit cards, banking information and email address, with the option of providing a social insurance number.

It appears that the sensitive information of CAA members who signed up for the identity protection program was stored with Equifax USA, said Ian Jack, CAA managing director of communications and government relations.

The company has shied away from public comment, however Equifax Canada’s customer service agents have told callers that only Canadians who have had dealings in the United States are likely to have had their information compromised in the data breach. That includes those who have lived, worked or applied for credit south of the border.

“Equifax has not been forthcoming with information to us despite our repeated requests,” Jack said.

The identity protection program began in March 2015 and was terminated on July 1, weeks before Equifax discovered the hack on July 29.

Jack said the CAA has been trying since the first reports of the Equifax breach surfaced to determine if it affects any of its approximately 10,000 members who signed up for the program. It is also writing to Canada’s privacy commissioner to express concern and ask that they push Equifax to provide more information to Canadians.

“We value our members’ privacy. Our contract with Equifax explicitly said customer data would be governed by Canada’s privacy law, PIPEDA,” Jack said.