British Columbia’s privacy watchdog is investigating whether B.C. Crime Stoppers did enough to protect the personal information of anonymous tipsters after a data breach at the company that runs its online tip platform.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) said people who believe they were affected by the breach do not need to file a complaint because of the sensitive nature of the information.
The office said it is not able to provide further information because it is an active investigation.
Gill Millam, executive director of B.C. Crime Stoppers, said in an emailed statement the organization is aware of the investigation and is co-operating fully.
“We take the protection of personal information seriously and are committed to working constructively with the OIPC throughout its investigation,” said Millam. “As the investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this time.”
Canada’s privacy commissioner announced an investigation last week into Navigate360, the company that manages the P3 tip platform used by many Canadian Crime Stoppers chapters.
The U.S.-based company also provides safety-related software to schools and workplaces.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada notes that the federal private-sector privacy law, known as PIPEDA, generally does not apply to not-for-profit organizations like Crime Stoppers.
B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) requires that all organizations operating in the province, including not-for-profits, make reasonable security arrangements to protect personal information that they hold.
Navigate360 said it became aware of suspicious activity on one of its systems in March.
It said an investigation found that an unauthorized third party had accessed its systems and obtained copies of some data between Nov. 21, 2025, and March 5, 2026.
The company said the data accessed in the breach could include names, addresses, birth dates, social insurance numbers, telephone numbers, email addresses and other sensitive information.
The company said it has found no evidence that any of the personal information has been used for fraud or identity theft.
Several B.C. Crime Stoppers chapters say they have temporarily paused accepting online tips through the P3 platform and are only accepting tips by phone.
