Post-Census Breach
In October 2006, months after the census had been collected, word got out about a security breach. Completed forms. Personal data. In the wrong hands.
It didn't make much noise. A few stories here and there. Then it faded. Most people never heard about it.
We did. And we wrote it down.
What Happened
The details were thin at the time and they haven't gotten much thicker since. What we know is that there was a breach involving census data after the 2006 collection period. Completed forms. Personal information. Exposed in some way that Stats Canada didn't want to talk about.
The official response was the standard one. Minimal. Reassuring. "No personal information was compromised." "We take this very seriously." "Steps have been taken."
Same script every time.
Why It Mattered Then
2006 was the year the census was already under fire. Lockheed Martin had the contract. People were worried about the data. There was an active anti-census movement building. And then, right in the middle of all that, a breach.
It confirmed what people had been saying. That the data wasn't as safe as Stats Canada claimed. That the systems were fallible. That the promises were just promises.
Not because Stats Canada was uniquely incompetent. But because no system is perfect, and pretending otherwise is where the problem starts.
Why It Still Matters
Every census cycle since then has had its own version of this story. Lost forms. Misplaced data. Hacked servers. Each one gets a short news cycle, a quiet official response, and then it disappears.
The pattern is consistent. The breaches don't stop. The reassurances don't change. And the public mostly forgets, because there's always something else happening.
This page exists so that at least one of them stays on the record.
The Bigger Picture
A single breach, on its own, isn't proof that the system is broken. Systems fail all the time. That's why you build backups, redundancies, and rules about what happens when things go wrong.
The problem is when the same agency keeps having the same problem, and keeps responding the same way. Deny, downplay, move on. At some point, the pattern itself becomes the story.
That's where we are now. Not because of one breach in 2006. Because of the 2006 breach, the 2011 breaches, the 2017 hack, the 2018 lost forms, and whatever comes next. Each one alone could be forgiven. Together, they paint a picture.
What You Can Do
Save your records. If you filled out a census form, keep a copy of what you sent. If you're contacted about it later, you'll want to know exactly what you said and when.
If you hear about a breach, pay attention. Even if it sounds minor. Even if the official response says everything is fine. The small ones sometimes turn out to be bigger than they first appeared.
And if you know something that never made the news, tell us. We'll add it to the list. The full picture only emerges when the pieces are all on the table.