(Ottawa) The company in charge of administering the $900 million settlement reached between the federal government and military victims of sexual misconduct in the ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces acknowledges other breaches of confidentiality despite its promise to have solved the problem.
Posted at 6:23 a.m.
Epiq Class Action Services Canada (Epiq) confirms that further errors were made after a third victim came forward to The Canadian Press to report receiving an email containing the personal information of another complainant earlier this this month.
This veteran, who asked to conceal her identity since she still works in the federal government, revealed that the confidential information received was in an attachment. She received this email as she was chasing Epiq to get her hands on her compensation after her check was sent to the wrong address.
The Federal Court mandated Epiq to manage the compensation process when the government reached an agreement with the victims grouped in three class actions in November 2019.
“I feel betrayed and worried that my personal information has been sent to other people,” said the veteran. I submitted over 180 pages of documents and it sickens me to think that anyone could have access to this information. It’s still victimization. »
Epiq had previously assured that the accidental breaches of confidentiality did not include testimonials and other such documents, but rather randomly generated names, contact details, and complainant numbers.
The firm has offered its apologies for mistakes made since the first reported case in March. She repeatedly promised that disciplinary measures would be imposed and that new procedures would be instituted to ensure that the victims were protected.
The leaks of personal information also prompted a committee of plaintiffs, attorneys and government officials overseeing the settlement process to order an audit of Epiq’s practices to prevent further problems.
The firm has since hired external auditors to review its procedures and make recommendations, Epiq Vice President Angela Hoidas confirmed by email. She added to the victims: “We sincerely regret these additional leaks. »
“While human error affected a small fraction of the complaints we administered in this class action, we believe that any error is unacceptable and we have already taken significant steps to improve our policies and procedures.” she promised again.
Lawyer Jonathan Ptak, who represents some of the veterans and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces involved in the lawsuits at issue, confirms that the audit has begun.
Despite all this, neither Epiq’s promises nor the triggering of the audit could prevent this new breach of confidentiality which now brings the total number of victims having had their information compromised to 109 according to a compilation available on the web portal. from Epiq.
While Epiq did not reveal the number of incidents that led to data breaches, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that 20 separate events have been recorded since February 8. This list includes 15 unreported incidents, but spotted by the firm during an internal review carried out at the end of February.
“National Defense takes privacy issues very seriously,” spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande said in an email. We have asked Epiq to investigate and take the necessary steps to ensure the situation is under control, resolved and never happens again. »
Nearly 20,000 plaintiffs have submitted a claim for compensation under this settlement.
Retired master corporal Amy Green and fellow veteran France Menard say they haven’t heard from the firm, the government or the lawyers involved in the settlement since they revealed they received the personal information of other complainants in communications from Epiq earlier this year.
“It’s disappointing, that’s for sure, shares Mme Menard. They try to shove everything under the rug. »
The veteran who recently received further confidential information from another complainant points out that several registered members as well as herself had already had problems with Epiq long before the data leaks. She cites errors in personal information as well as sending allowances to the wrong addresses.