In the wake of a security incident that occurred between April 2 and May 18, 2024 — affecting 1.3 terabytes of data, containing the personal information of 560 million customers worldwide — the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster Canada in response to a complaint. The investigation will examine the company’s practices with respect to security safeguards and whether the company complied with breach notification requirements.
Ticketmaster may offer affected customers “free” credit watch services — that typically are operated by the American business unit of a credit bureau (a fact that is only available to those who dig into the terms, conditions, and privacy policies of the company offering the credit watch protection). In other words, accepting the “free” offer is conditional upon agreeing to your personal information being sent to and stored outside of Canada. As well, signing up for “free” credit watch services often requires providing personal information including name, full date of birth, address, email, and phone number.
