Canada’s privacy commissioner has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster after a massive data breach leaked the personal information of more than a half billion customers worldwide, including the private data of Canadians, as first reported by Global News.
“Ticketmaster holds the personal information of millions of Canadians. The investigation will allow us to understand why this cyber incident happened and what must be done to address this situation and prevent it from happening again,” privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne said.
The probe into Ticketmaster Canada and its parent company, U.S.-based Live Nation Entertainment Inc., stems from a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
It also comes nearly two months after Global News reported Canadians were likely affected by the breach.
Hackers stole the personal information of 560 million Ticketmaster customers, including their names, addresses, phone numbers and credit card details, and tried to sell the data on the dark web last May for US $500,000.
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But it wasn’t until a month and a half later that the ticket giant informed the public.
“We are fully committed to protecting your information, and deeply regret that this incident occurred,” read an email sent to Ticketmaster customers July 8.
“Ticketmaster recently discovered that an unauthorized third party obtained information from a cloud database hosted by a third-party data services provider. Based on our investigation to date, we determined that the unauthorized activity occurred between April 2, 2024, and May 18, 2024.”
Ticketmaster said it has been investigating the “security incident” with the assistance of outside experts and co-operating with U.S. federal law enforcement.
It’s also offering affected customers a free 12-month credit or identity monitoring service through TransUnion of Canada, Inc.
According to an alleged sample of the information, which a whistleblower shared with Global News, there were at least 527 Canadian home addresses included in the leak.
The privacy commissioner’s investigation will examine whether Ticketmaster followed Canadian privacy law, and if it “complied with breach notification requirements,” the office said.
“Data breaches have surged over the last decade, and we have seen a significant increase in the scale and complexity of these incidents,” Dufresne added.
— with files from Global News’ Kathryn Mannie and Saba Aziz
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