SEAN BRADY
The Omega (Thompson Rivers University)

Student loan borrowers affected by the HRSDC privacy breach are organizing in an effort to demand government accountability.

KAMLOOPS (CUP) — Past and present university students affected by the massive student loan privacy breach announced by the federal government in January are organizing online and demanding government accountability.

The breach occurred when a Human Resources and Skills Development Canada computer hard drive went missing in 2012. HRSDC is a department of the federal government that provides student loans.

“Student loan borrowers affected by the HRSDC privacy breach,” a Facebook group, has nearly 3,000 members claiming  their names, social insurance numbers, birth dates and other personal information were lost.

In total, the information for 583,000 Canadians who applied for student loans between 2000 and 2006 has vanished.

The creators of the Facebook group have also launched a website — studentloanprivacybreach.ca — where 250 individuals have signed an open letter to the federal government.

The letter expresses concerns over HRSDC’s latest solution to the breach — an offer of a free fraud alert flag provided by credit bureau Equifax, something HRSDC said normally costs five dollars. The alert monitors for indications of fraud or identity theft for the individuals whose information was lost.

“What HRSDC purchased from Equifax was a unique solution that was designed specifically for this particular incident,” said Alyson Queen, HRSDC communications director. “It’s not the free service. This is added for six years.”

On Jan. 23, two days before HRSDC began offering fraud alerts through Equifax, Canada’s other national credit bureau, TransUnion, also began charging five dollars to enable fraud alerts.

Both bureaus offer credit monitoring services starting at $14.95 per month.

“I can’t afford the $30 to $40 per month in fees for credit monitoring packages from both bureaus,” UBC graduate Nick Hall said. “Those affected should not be [charged] out-of-pocket for the way the government has mishandled their information.”

Amanda Thoy started the Facebook group on Jan. 12, hoping to provide a forum for those affected. The group grew quickly and Thoy struggled to keep up with membership demands.

“We have now become more of an awareness group speaking out against HRSDC,” Thoy said, asserting the department’s dealings with the public had not been honest. “Many Canadians are still not aware this breach has happened.”

Wende Donaldson, a 2001 graduate of International Complementary Therapy Kikkawa College in Toronto, paid the five-dollar fraud alert fee to Equifax before HRSDC’s announcement. Now she’s attempting to gain reimbursment.

“It’s the principle,” she said. “Someone needs to be held accountable for this.”

Donaldson waited 76 hours for a supervisor to call. She was told she would receive a call within 24 to 48 hours. When the supervisor finally contacted her, he said there was nothing he could do. By then, Donaldson said she was angry and asked the supervisor, “How would you feel if this was your information out there?”

Many borrowers are still awaiting promised correspondence from HRSDC containing information on credit protection services offered and further information about what to do next. When one Facebook group member asked the group if anyone had received a letter, not one of the 70 respondents had.

“The letters are going out for everyone for whom we have current contact information,” HRSDC’s Queen said. “The department stopped sending letters for a short period of time, just so that any future letters that were being sent would have information on the credit protection.”

The department is missing current contact information for one third of those affected, according to Queen.

Meanwhile, the federal government is facing four class-action lawsuits. Bob Buckingham Law in St. John’s, N.L. is among the firms filing a suit.

“The government has 30 days to file a defence to my action and we have 90 days to file the motion to certify,” Buckingham said. “I hope to be quicker than that.”

On Nov. 5, 2012, an HRSDC employee discovered a hard drive containing the personal information of thousands of student loan borrowers was missing. The public was only notified 67 days later and the police were not notified for a month.

“The information [on the hard drive] was compiled for the purposes of a customer satisfaction survey,” Queen said.

“There are now going to be disciplinary measures in place if employees do not follow protocol,” she added, though she was unable to comment on disciplinary measures taken in response to this incident.

The hard drive is still deemed missing, but at this point in HRSDC’s investigation, Queen reaffirmed there is no reason to believe any fraudulent activity has occurred.

HRSDC is asking students to contact them to learn if they have been affected or to arrange credit protection services. Students can call 1-866-885-1866 from within North America or 1-416-572-1113 from outside the continent.

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Photo: Andy Whiteley/The Omega