1,100 Hamilton residents’ emails compromised following data breach

The emails of about 1,100 residents have been compromised following a data breach of two waste collection apps, according to the city of Hamilton.

Municipal Media Inc., the service provider for Recycle Coach and My Waste, reported the data breach to the city and several other municipalities earlier this week.

In the release issued Friday evening, the city said all affected users have been notified of the data breach.

It added that at this time, it appears only email addresses were accessed by the unauthorized party, and information such as names, locations or passwords have not been impacted.

Users registered their emails with Recycle Coach and My Waste in order to receive alerts about garbage, recycling and yard-waste collection schedules, and other related information.

The city said it is actively investigating how this breach happened and that it is working with the apps’ operators to ensure it does not happen again.

Residents are advised to be wary of emails with links to suspicious websites, be cautious of any suspicious emails posing as Recycle Coach or My Waste and to not click links in emails from unrecognized addresses.