Canadian taxpayers will pick up the tab for credit and identity theft protection service to as many as 583,000 Canada Student Loans Program participants whose personal information was contained in a missing hard drive.
The drive, from the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) office in Gatineau, Que., contained names, birth dates, Social Insurance Numbers, addresses and loan balances of people who got federal student loans between 2000 and 2006.
So, the feds have contracted credit bureau Equifax to protect affected students for up to six years.
