Regina police chief says privacy breach not malicious

A privacy breach by the Regina Police Service over the weekend was a mistake due to human error and there was no malice involved, according to Police Chief Evan Bray.

On Sunday, a watch commander's log containing details about situations the RPS responded to as well as personal information of those involved was accidentally sent out in a mass email.

Later the same day the email was recalled and Elizabeth Popowich, manager of public information and strategic communication for RPS, followed up with another email asking that the recipients delete the email without viewing the information, if possible.

"It was an unfortunate mistake but it was something we were able to get on top of very quickly and work to try and protect those people that were affected," Bray said on Tuesday.

The people whose information was revealed have been contacted by police and they are aware of the breach, Bray said. 

Ron Kruzeniski, Saskatchewan's information and privacy commissioner, said the RPS's response to the situation was proactive. RPS contacted Kruzeniski's office about the breach on Monday 

Kruzeniski added that double and triple checking emails containing sensitive information in the future before hitting the send button is a good practice. 

"And/or leave out some of the very personal information that might be in the email," he said. "If you don't have to include personal information in there — don't."

Bray said the RPS is doing "some quick and robust work" to ensure that a similar situation does not happen in the future. 

"It's one of those things we don't like that to happen, but ultimately it falls on me and the Regina Police Service to make sure that we have policies and procedures in place to make sure that it doesn't," Bray said.