Wellness Within Condemns Data Breach Affecting Hundreds of Incarcerated Victims

Wellness Within is disappointed to hear of a data breach that affected hundreds of incarcerated people in Nova Scotia. The Province announced last week that personal records stolen in the MOVEit cyber security breach included around 500 people in Provincial correctional facilities, including their names; date of birth; gender; prisoner ID numbers; and status within the justice system.

All citizens have the right to the security of their personal information, and this breach exemplifies the violations of privacy and constant surveillance that incarcerated people experience every day. Prisoners have had their liberty denied by the state and are left unable to take steps to protect their identity. This problem is addressed in the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules (Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners) which highlight the importance of secure prisoner file management to prevent unauthorized access. While the Province continues to investigate the breach and identify those affected, the offence amplifies the vulnerability of our most marginalized groups.

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Wellness Within is a volunteer-based registered non-profit organization that serves women, transgender, and nonbinary people who have experienced criminalization and are pregnant or have young children in Nova Scotia, part of the unceded and unsurrendered ancestral territory of the Mi'kmaq people. 

Wellness Within supports people through the full spectrum of reproductive health experience; facilitates workshops and education sessions; develops resource materials; and advocates for reproductive justice issues.

Contact: Claire Rillie, Chair, 902-456-3807 or crillie@gmail.com and Dr. Martha Paynter, Director of Research, 9022927082 or martha.paynter@gmail.com