A 19-year-old Halifax man has been arrested for illicitly accessing the Nova Scotia government’s freedom-of-information website, CBC News reports. The man was able to see more than 7,000 documents, some of which contained sensitive information, including birth dates, social insurance numbers, addresses and government-services client information. The Nova Scotia government said no credit card information was compromised in the breach, with government officials saying thousands of citizens in the province were likely affected. Halifax Regional Police searched the suspect’s house before his arrest. The man has been charged with the unauthorized use of a computer. Software and privacy professionals have expressed concerns the Nova Scotia government is using the 19-year-old man as a scapegoat for the breach.
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