The federal government has lost an external hard drive containing the personal information of more than half a million student loan borrowers.
The external hard drive, which contained data on 583,000 people who got student loans between 2000 and 2006, went missing from the the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) office in Gatineau, Que.
The missing info includes names, birth dates, Social Insurance Numbers, addresses and student loan balances.
"On behalf of our government, I want to reassure Canadians that we are serious about protecting their personal information. As minister, I will ensure that every effort is taken so that HRSDC meets the expectations of Canadians in keeping their information safe and secure,” said Human Resources Minister Diane Finley.
The feds, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the RCMP are investigating the breach.
This comes after HRSDC lost a USB key containing 5,000 Canadians' personal info in December.
