Public Information Alert: Privacy Incident at Surrey Libraries’ Administration Office
Surrey Libraries would like to notify all patrons of an incident that may affect the security of their personal information.
On April 21, 2023, Surrey Libraries responded to an incident in which an unauthorized entity gained access to certain areas of the Library’s Administration Office. As soon as the intrusion was detected, we engaged corporate security and law enforcement to assist with the response.
During our ongoing investigation, we have determined that personal information belonging to patrons may be at risk because of the incident, and out of abundance of caution we are issuing this public statement.
Information that may have been included in this incident:
- Name and contact information of individuals that Surrey Libraries staff reached out to between April 2020 – May 2022
- Staff responses by phone or text to inquiries that individuals made about their library account during this time period
In the wrong hands, this type of information can be used for possible fraudulent texts or calls regarding library accounts. Although we have no evidence that any such activity has occurred, we want you to be aware of the situation, and include precautions that we recommend you take to protect your personal information.
Steps you can take
- Change your pin/password associated with your Surrey Libraries account
- Be cautious of suspicious messages asking for personal information
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Please know that we are taking steps to ensure this won’t happen again. These include launching a thorough investigation, enhancing our physical security measures and notifying the Office of Information & Privacy Commissioner for BC.
By informing you Surrey Libraries is following the protocol of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC. If you have concerns about the manner in which this matter has been communicated, you can contact the information & Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia at:
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia
Email: info@oipc.bc.ca / Tel. (250) 387-5629 / Fax (250)387-1696
P.O. Box 9038, Stn. Prov. Govt.
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9A4
www.oipc.bc.ca
If you have any questions related to this notice, please contact the Director of Administrative Services at Surrey Libraries: MHo@surrey.ca or call 604-598-7303.