Announcement

July 31, 2019

OPC launches investigation into Capital One breach

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has opened an investigation into a data breach at Capital One after receiving complaints from Canadian customers.

Capital One contacted our office about a breach that affected six million Canadians whose personal information — including, in some cases, Social Insurance Numbers — had been accessed without authorization.

The organization said in a public statement that it would notify affected individuals through a variety of channels.

Individuals should note, however, that Capital One advised our office it is not contacting affected individuals by telephone regarding this incident, and has said it will not call customers to ask for credit card, account information, or Social Insurance Numbers over the phone or via email.  Should individuals receive calls claiming to be from Capital One regarding this incident, they should not provide any information and instead should call the number listed on the back of their credit card.

Customers looking for more information should contact the company directly.

Because this is an active investigation, no additional details are available at this time.

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Contacts:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Communications@priv.gc.ca