Following various online comments from cannabis sellers in Ontario posted in April, the Ontario Cannabis Office (OCS), the province’s only cannabis wholesaler for adult cannabis, sent a letter to retailers and licensed producers confirming that a data breach has occurred.
According to several sources, this data contained information on the sales of each cannabis store in the province, without any consumer data.
The leaked data could prove invaluable to producers looking to better understand which stores have the highest sales, as well as companies looking to buy out existing retailers.
The OCS has notified the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), who are investigating the matter.
Daffyd Roderick, Senior Director of Communications and Social Responsibility, explained to StratCann :
“This data has been diverted, it is not a failure of our IT systems or our security. As this is a criminal matter under investigation by the OPP, we cannot comment further. »
LOCS yesterday sent a letter to retailers and producers which states in particular:
“This data has not been disclosed by the OSC, and we have given no permission or consent to distribute or use this data outside of our organization. This data has been misappropriated, disclosed and distributed illegally. Accordingly, we hope that you will refrain from sharing or using this stolen data in any way.
“As soon as we became aware of this issue, we took immediate action to remedy the situation: we restricted access to our internal data reports, we began a thorough investigation to identify the source of this problem and we informed the Ontario Provincial Police. The OPP is conducting its own review and investigation into the misuse of this data within the cannabis industry. »
