Crime Stoppers tip leak: privacy watchdogs say they can't investigate
Sent a Crime Stoppers tip? Canada's and Ontario's privacy watchdogs say they can't formally investigate the leak of more than 1.5 million tips, because the law mostly skips non-profits. What it means for you:
Topics: Public safety
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Two days after Windsor Police paused their part in Crime Stoppers, a new question: who can actually investigate the leak of more than 1.5 million Canadian tips? According to Canada's and Ontario's privacy commissioners, neither of them can, at least not formally.
The news
A national news investigation reported on Oct. 24 that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) both say they can't formally investigate Crime Stoppers for failing to protect tipsters' information.
The same investigation reported on Oct. 21 that more than 1.5 million tips sent to Canadian Crime Stoppers programs over 25 years were exposed when hackers stole data from the U.S. company that ran the tip platform. About half included personal information such as addresses or phone numbers.
Why no one can investigate
Federal law: Canada's private-sector privacy law, PIPEDA, applies to organizations collecting personal information in the course of commercial activity. The OPC's own guidance says non-profits "are usually not subject" to it because they don't typically do commercial activity. The OPC told reporters the law "generally does not apply" to the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association or its local chapters.
Ontario law: the IPC said it oversees public-sector privacy law only, so it has no authority over the breach.
What it means for you
If you sent a tip, there's no regulator with the job of checking how it was stored or protected.
The OPC says it has reached out to Crime Stoppers to offer guidance and has contacted the tip platform's company, Navigate360, to find out more. It said it had received no complaints.
To report a crime in Windsor now, Windsor Police ask you to contact them directly: online at by phone at 519-258-6111 (non-emergency), or 911 in an emergency. Reporting to police directly doesn't come with Crime Stoppers' promise of anonymity.
This is general information, not legal advice.
