Manitoba Victim Services discloses confidential information to wrong person

WINNIPEG — A voicemail left by a victim services worker revealed confidential information about an incident concerning the welfare of a child to a person with no connection to the people involved.

The voicemail contains the names and birth dates of two parents, a case number and allegations of behavior that could affect the safety of their child.

However the voicemail was left on the mobile phone of a man who has absolutely no connection to the case, instead of the individual who would be in charge of checking on the child.

“When you’re talking about the disclosure of any information that’s gone to a recipient or a third party that you didn’t intend it to go, you really are talking about what we would call a privacy breach,” said Manitoba Ombudsman Charlene Paquin.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "When you're talking about the disclosure of any information that's gone to a recipient or a third party that you didn't intend it to go, you really are talking about what we would call a privacy breach," said Manitoba Ombudsman Charlene Paquin.

Paquin said her office is looking into what happened to cause the victim services worker to call the wrong person.

In an email to Global News, a spokesperson with Victim Services said they had since contacted the individual who was supposed to receive the phone call and check on the child.

They also admitted one of their workers had mistakenly dialed the wrong number and that they have reached out to the people who had their information improperly shared to apologize.

The spokesperson said they would be following up with their staff to stress the importance of sharing the right information with the right people.