Lost RCMP memory key with informant details was offered for sale by criminals: report
OTTAWA – The federal privacy watchdog says the RCMP lost a memory key containing personal information about victims, witnesses and informants, and later learned it was being offered for sale by criminals.
A detailed report from the office of privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne reveals the RCMP told the watchdog about the breach in March 2022, prompting a lengthy investigation.
The probe found that the unencrypted USB storage device contained the personal information of 1,741 people, including witnesses, complainants, subjects of interest, informants, police officers and civilian employees.
The privacy commissioner says an RCMP detachment learned from a confidential source three weeks after the loss that the data on the device was being offered for sale by members of the criminal community.
The privacy watchdog recommended the RCMP adopt strict security measures for the use of USB storage devices, given the sensitive nature of the personal information police handle daily.
The commissioner says the Mounties agreed in principle to the recommendations but did not commit to implementing them within a specific timeline.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
'All scenarios are being considered,' RCMP say, as search continues for missing N.S. siblings
Article content Mounties have also obtained search warrants 'to seize and examine materials and devices that may provide information useful to the investigation,' it said. Article content 'We're accessing, evaluating and analyzing a significant volume of information from a variety of sources. We have a very coordinated and deliberate approach to make certain all information is meticulously scrutinized, prioritized and actioned to ensure nothing is missed,' Cpl. Sandy Matharu, investigation lead with the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit, said in the release. 'We're committed to doing what is necessary to locate Lilly and Jack and advance the investigation, which may take longer than we all hoped.' Article content Daniel Robert Martell, who identifies as the children's stepfather, told The Chronicle Herald earlier last month that he and the children's mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray, last heard Jack and Lily on the morning of May 2, as they lay in bed with their baby. Article content 'The sun was already up and Lily came into the (bedroom),' said Martell. Article content 'She had a pink shirt on. We could hear Jackie in the kitchen. A few minutes later we didn't hear them so I went out to check. The sliding door was closed. Their boots were gone.' Article content Article content Martell said when they noticed the two children were missing May 2, he immediately jumped in the car and searched neighbouring roads, looking in culverts. By the time he returned home, the RCMP were there, having been called by the children's mother. Article content Martell is not Jack and Lily's father. He's been Brooks-Murray's partner for three years, though after the children disappeared she reportedly left him and the county with their baby and is staying with family. Article content Martell has said that he had been working with Northeast Nova Major Crime, had provided the RCMP with his cellphone and had agreed to take a lie detector test. Martell told CBC he passed that test, so 'you really can't point fingers at me anymore.' Article content On the weekend after they vanished, Brooks-Murray told CTV that Jack and Lilly are not typically the type of children who would go outside on their own. 'I just want to remain hopeful, but there's always in a mother's mind, you're always thinking the worst,' Brooks-Murray said at the time. Article content Article content A large scale-ground search began immediately after the children were reported missing. Hundreds of volunteers, multiple dogs, drones, an underwater recovery team and several aircraft scoured a heavily wooded 5.5-square-kilometre area before search efforts were scaled back on May 7. Article content Several additional searches have taken place since, many of them on weekends. Article content 'The terrain here in Nova Scotia is very rugged in that area,' Tremblay said. Article content On Wednesday, Mounties said the information they have gathered to this point has not identified new search areas. Article content Police want anyone with information on the whereabouts of the missing children to call the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit at 902-896-5060. To remain anonymous, contact Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers, toll-free, at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submit a secure web tip at or use the P3 Tips app. Article content
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
RCMP charge man, seize fentanyl and meth in central Alberta
An RCMP patch is seen on the shoulder of an assistant commissioner, in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, April 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck RCMP have charged a 22-year-old central Alberta man with drug trafficking. The Wetaskiwin RCMP Crime Reduction Unit was patrolling when they saw a known male offender driving a Hyundai Venue on Tuesday. Officers stopped him after finding that he did not have a driver's licence. Mounties found about 27 grams of fentanyl and approximately 53 grams of methamphetamine as well as other items consistent with drug trafficking in the vehicle. RCMP charged a 22-year-old Mackwacis man with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. The man is to appear in Wetaskiwin court on Thursday. Another individual who was in the vehicle has two charges pending for possession for the purpose of trafficking.
National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
B.C. judge says man's ‘relatively modest' child porn collection doesn't merit jail time
A B.C. man who admitted to police he was aroused by child pornography found in his home but later denied sexual interest in children, will serve his sentence at home, partly due to the 'relatively modest size' of his stash — six images. Article content Such was the ruling from provincial court Judge Andrew Tam in Kelowna, who handed down a conditional sentence of two years less a day to Mark Keenan in a decision published this week. Article content Article content 'Although there is no strict mathematical relationship between the size of the collection and the length (or indeed type) of sentence, the size of a collection has often been held to be an aggravating factor, ' Tam wrote. Article content Article content 'It stands to reason, then, that a modest collection, while not a mitigating factor, could nevertheless distinguish it from other cases.' Article content Keenan, 54, pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of child pornography and distribution of the same, offences for which he was first arrested in September 2018 after someone alerted the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about his account. Article content The RCMP obtained a search warrant and found the six images meeting the definition of child pornography on one of his devices. Article content Forensic investigations also uncovered communication between Keenan and other users, mostly adults but including one who identified as a 15-year-old boy, in which he discussed sexual activities with children and the exchange of images. Article content Article content Keenan insisted at his sentencing hearing in March that he had 'no sexual interest in children' and that he happened upon the images while searching for beach and sunset photos. Article content Article content So appalled at the sight of child pornography, Keenan, in both a statement to police upon his arrest and again at his hearing, maintained he found the images in September 2017 and was using them to run his own 'undercover sting' to catch pedophiles on Tumblr so he could get them banned. Article content Tam rejected the idea the offences were carried out 'for the public good' and noted Keenan, in his statement to police, provided 'the most damning evidence.' Article content When asked by officers if he was aroused by the images he replied, 'I mean, in a way, it's hard not to be.' Article content He first pointed to the messages, in which Keenan offered 'extensive and detailed' insight into his sexual interests with children. The judge called the exchanges 'unnecessarily graphic' for someone only trying to snag a predator and questioned why they went on long after ample evidence had been acquired.
