Elections Alberta faced a potential privacy breach involving millions of voters recently. Journalist Jen Gerson contacted the agency after discovering voter information on a website linked to the Centurion Project, an Alberta separatist group. The exposed data included personal details of 2.9 million Albertans.
Following Gerson’s alert, Elections Alberta swiftly obtained a court injunction to compel the Centurion Project to remove the information. While Gerson refrained from publishing a story due to the sensitive nature of the data, she conveyed the details to Elections Alberta.
The agency, limited by new legislation, explained that they required “reasonable grounds to believe an offence has occurred” to launch an investigation. Despite the compelling evidence presented by Gerson, Elections Alberta cited the stringent standards set by the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act.
In response, Justice Minister Mickey Amery’s press secretary, Heather Jenkins, refuted claims that the legislation hindered investigations. Notably, Elections Alberta acknowledged that the data originated from the Republican Party of Alberta, emphasizing the importance of controlling access to voter lists.
With the incident under investigation by Elections Alberta and the Alberta RCMP, cybersecurity expert Ritesh Kotak warned that once data is exposed, the damage is irreversible. Kotak recommended stringent security measures, urging affected individuals to adopt a zero-trust protocol in safeguarding their information.
In light of the breach, Elections Alberta announced changes to verification procedures for citizen initiative petitions, incorporating a search for seeded names within voter lists. This enhanced practice aims to bolster data integrity and traceability for future petitions.
Separately, Stay Free Alberta distanced itself from the Centurion Project, clarifying that they had no involvement in the data exposure. Organizer Mitch Sylvestre underscored the need for accountability within the separatist movement, expressing regret over the situation.
