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Water bill misprint leads to privacy breach in Erin

Approximately 1,100 properties are affected by the breach, which saw multiple customers' information printed on the same bill. No banking information was disclosed
Epcor bill
File photo

ERIN - A software error has resulted in the personal information of multiple customers being printed on the same water bills in Erin. 

Approximately 1,100 properties have been affected by the privacy breach which disclosed names, addresses, account numbers and corresponding outstanding payment balances, the Town of Erin said in a media release. 

No banking information has been breached or disclosed.

"Our water billing goes to a third party vendor and they print the bills and send them out," Erin's senior communication officer Lavina Dixit said in an interview. "So it was some sort of software glitch and what happened was people received their bills along with information of other property owners."

Immediate steps are being taken to ensure that the problem is rectified and does not occur again in the future, the release said. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario will be notified, it continued. 

“We apologize for this incident and would like to assure our residents that the town is fully committed to ensuring that we maintain the confidential information of all our residents in the most secure and safe manner,” Lisa Campion, director of legislative services and town clerk, said in the release. 

The effected bills were mailed out Friday, Dixit said.