Privacy commissioner Anne Bertrand says people should prepare for the worst case scenario to help contain the breach. Privacy commissioner Anne Bertrand says people should prepare for the worst case scenario to help contain the breach. (CBC)
New Brunswick’s privacy commissioner is advising eligible voters to keep a close eye on their bank and credit card statements following the theft of two Elections New Brunswick laptops.
It's important for all New Brunswickers to be vigilant because one of the computers stolen Friday night contained personal data about voters, such as dates of birth, phone numbers and driver’s licence numbers, Anne Bertrand told CBC News.
“I think it's very prudent for anyone who is the victim of a theft of this nature to be worried,” she said.
Although Elections New Brunswick officials have offered assurances that the laptop is secure because it's password protected and the data is encoded, Bertrand isn’t convinced.
“There are people, even in this province, who are sophisticated thieves who know what they're going after and that they can sell this sensitive data,” she said.
Fraudsters can use such personal data for identify theft, Bertrand has said.
There are 553,000 people on the voters list.
“Think of the worst case scenario so that steps are undertaken immediately to make sure that we can contain the breach,” said Bertrand.

May have been targeted

Fredericton Police say the Elections New Brunswick office on King Street was broken into late Friday night.
But the laptops were actually stolen from an office down the hall, where IT consultants were working on a new software application for the agency.
Chief electoral officer Michael Quinn has said he doubts the thief, who was captured on video, targeted the voter data because that office did not have an Elections New Brunswick sign on the door.
In addition, a third laptop was stolen from the Invest NB office across the street around the same time, he said.
The privacy commissioner, however, argues that can’t be taken for granted.
“Our experience has shown that even in New Brunswick, we cannot assume that the theft of laptop computers are simply for them to be resold very quickly to pawn shops or on Kijiji for a quick buck,” said Bertrand.
Her office recently wrapped up an investigation into another security breach at Elections New Brunswick.
Last month, the agency accidentally sent CDs with voters' personal information to Members of the Legislative Assembly and to the Progressive Conservative and Liberal parties.
Bertrand felt that breach did not lead to any personal information being made public because all of the CDs were recovered, along with affidavits that any copy that were made have been destroyed.