City of Brandon issues PSA regarding security camera privacy breach

Brandon, MB At 4:40 p.m. on October 21, 2020, the City of Brandon became aware that a private, internal Brandon Police Service (BPS) database containing information related to security cameras throughout the city was accidentally made available on the internet, via a mapping interface service. Within 15 minutes of city staff becoming aware of the exposure, online access to the dataset was removed. 

BPS maintains a database of business and private residence security cameras that BPS is aware of, in order to assist with investigations. This information is kept in strict confidence and was never intended to be publicly available.  

Data contained in this dataset may include items, such as: 

·         Street Address 

·         Physical location of security cameras 

·         Vantage point of security cameras 

·         Business name 

·         Contact details, such as name or phone number 

Not all records contained all the above information.  

Under further investigation, the ability to access this information was available for 5 days from the afternoon of Friday, October 16, 2020 till Wednesday, October 21, 2020. From our internal review, only the individual who brought it to our attention, accessed the map information. 

It is important to emphasize that neither BPS or the City have access to any private camera images or videos feeds without the owners granting access. 

In accordance with The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the City has reported this situation to the Manitoba Ombudsman.  In an effort to be transparent and demonstrate the City of Brandon’s commitment to protecting the privacy of citizens, all individuals affected are being notified by mail. 

(City of Brandon PSA)