The City of Brandon says it became aware that a private, internal Brandon Police Service (BPS) database containing information related to security cameras throughout the city was accidentally made available on the internet, via a mapping interface service.
Within 15 minutes of city staff becoming aware of the exposure, online access to the dataset was removed.
BPS maintains a database of business and private residence security cameras that BPS is aware of, in order to assist with investigations. This information is kept in strict confidence and was never intended to be publicly available.
Data contained in this dataset may include items, such as:
– Street Address
– Physical location of security cameras
– Vantage point of security cameras
– Business name, contact details or phone number
Not all records contained all the above information.
Under further investigation, the ability to access this information was available for 5 days from the afternoon of Friday, October 16, 2020 till Wednesday, October 21, 2020, and an internal review found only the individual who brought it to the city’s attention, accessed the map information.
The city says neither BPS or the city have access to any private camera images or videos feeds without the owners granting access.
In accordance with The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the City has reported this situation to the Manitoba Ombudsman.
In an effort to be transparent and demonstrate the City of Brandon’s commitment to protecting the privacy of citizens, all individuals affected are being notified by mail.
