April 1, 2022

Recently, the Canadian Open Parkinson Network (C-OPN) became aware of an unauthorized data breach on March 23, 2022, accessing C-OPN User data held by the University of Calgary. On March 31, as a major co-funder Parkinson Canada was made aware of the data breach. 

The University of Calgary’s and McGill University’s privacy office and their IT teams, and relevant privacy and research ethics office are investigating. While the investigation is ongoing, the web application has been removed from the website and will not be relaunched until an investigation concludes and it is deemed safe to do so.  

Measures are being taken to address this situation including strengthening the cybersecurity of the C-OPN study database. 

C-OPN has sent out a notification with pertinent information to all their participants impacted and have advised them to have their personal data protected. The University of Calgary will cover the costs for participants to get these services through either Equifax or TransUnion. 

It’s important to understand that the data breach has not affected Parkinson Canada servers or information. 

The lead researchers including the University of Calgary and McGill University will continue to investigate. If you have additional questions specific to this breach, please contact: 

Marisa Cressatti, PhD 
Interim National Manager, C-OPN
marisa.cressatti@criugm.qc.ca 

For any other questions or concerns, Parkinson Canada is here to support you. Please reach out to us at info@parkinson.ca.