KPU students' health and dental provider announces data breach
Students’ personal info was breached from Gallivan’s third party security company
Art by Rachel De Freitas
Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s student health, dental, and wellness plan provider, Gallivan, sent a statement on Aug. 28 to students informing them of a data breach.
Binny Abraham, senior vice-president of Gallivan, wrote the statement to KPU students who use the service that on March 10, Gallivan was informed of a data breach at the third-party security company they use to transfer data between their benefit administration systems, service partners, and the Kwantlen Student Association.
Gallivan wrote after a thorough investigation of internal and external cyber security advisors, they determined KPU students’ IDs, names, and dates of birth were leaked in the incident. The information can be used for fraudulent reasons like identity theft.
According to Gallivan, KPU and the KSA are not to blame for the data breach and they are currently not aware of any situations where the leaked data is being misused.
“We’re taking a comprehensive and proactive approach by providing information about the incident, our response, and steps you can take to help protect your information,” Abraham wrote in the statement.
“We’ve discontinued using the third-party service and are offering you a comprehensive credit monitoring service as an extra precaution,” he wrote.
KPU students who have or have used the medical and dental benefits through the KSA’s coverage plans with Gallivan may be affected by the data breach. The information was initially collected to confirm students’ enrolment or opt-out status of the health and wellness program. No banking or personal health information was involved in the data breach.
Gallivan is advising KPU students to sign up for free credit monitoring services to help identify fraudulent uses of information. myTrueIdentity is one of these services and is available for free through TransUnion, a consumer reporting agency, for up to 12 months. The service helps assist students if they become a victim of fraud and monitors their financial history daily for credit-related identity theft or fraud. Students interested in connecting with TransUnion’s myTrueIdentity can phone 1.833.620.3082.
myTrueIdentity is only available to students with a credit history. Those with minimal or no credit history are advised to reach out to standalone dark web monitoring services instead, which can be accessed after emailing pcdwm@transunion.com to receive a free activation code.
Other resources for students who believe they are a victim of identity theft include immediately contacting the police to file a police report and calling the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1.888.495.8501 or visiting www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.
“We take the responsibility of protecting your personal information seriously and assure you that we’re committed to continual enhancement of our information security program,” Abraham wrote.
The Runner reached out to Gallivan for an interview but did not hear back before the publishing date. The Runner will provide updates as they become available.
