Data theft accusation explodes in Mountain election
Terry Whitehead claims his assistant, Colleen Wicken, who is running for office, inappropriately emailed herself a resident contact list. Wicken denies the accusation.
WARD 8 COUN.
Terry Whitehead has complained to police and publicly accused his own staffer — who is running for councillor in the hotly contested ward — of stealing a database of resident email addresses.
But longtime executive assistant Colleen Wicken angrily denied the accusation, adding she “just about fell over” when she saw an email from Whitehead warning constituents about an alleged database theft.
Wicken called the email from her boss a “desperate” effort to derail her election campaign and payback over a festering
human resources complaint between them. Wicken had been on sick leave for more than two months before registering in June to run for councillor in Ward 8 — a move Whitehead said at the time he was unhappy about.
“He is trying to besmirch me,” Wicken said, adding she is talking to a lawyer about her options. “He is out to get me any way he can.”
Whitehead dismissed the idea that his complaint was politically motivated, noting he is running for election in the newly creat-
ed Mountain Ward 14 — not against his executive assistant in the ward he has represented since 2003. He also said the city’s own information technology staff found evidence of databases being emailed from Wicken’s corporate account to her personal email shortly before she went on leave. The city refused to comment or confirm whether or not its IT staff investigated the email allegation.
“It’s a theft,” Whitehead said, adding he has asked police to investigate. Whitehead said his understanding is both federal privacy laws and city policies forbid the sharing of constituent contact details for purposes other than intended.
The warning circulated Tuesday told constituents the contact list “was never intended to leave the office or be used for electoral purposes.” It urges residents on the list to contact the Ward 8 office or notify police if they receive “any emails without permission for election purposes.” Hamilton police are looking into the councillor’s complaint — but they are not asking residents to call police if they’ve received unsolicited emails, clarified spokesperson Jackie Penman.
“At this stage that would be premature,” she said, while adding residents with “questions or concerns” are always welcome to contact police.
The database alleged to have been stolen was meant to send email news updates, event and meeting notifications to ward residents who gave permission to be on the list, Whitehead said. (Christmas card and “email blast” lists of residents were also taken without permission, he added.)
“If I lose control of the data, and it’s pretty clear that I have, I have a responsibility to inform (affected residents),” Whitehead said.
Wicken said she has never inappropriately taken an office contact database. But she also suggested it is inevitable that she would reach out to residents during her campaign that she also dealt with as an ward office administrator. “They’re also my neighbours,” said the Ward 8 candidate, who has been historically
active in several Mountain community groups.
Wicken said she called to leave a message for police after seeing the email. “Send IT up here.
They’re welcome to go through my computer,” she said.