1 (888) 897-3611 Book a call

Breach report · Not-for-profit

Privacy commissioner investigates Crime Stoppers tip platform breach

Canada's privacy commissioner is investigating Navigate360, whose hacked platform held Crime Stoppers tips. Who's affected and what to do now.

By happier IT 5 min read

Updated October 28, 2026. We first covered this breach in June, when it was linked to Crime Stoppers of Hamilton. This page now reflects the national picture and the privacy commissioner’s investigation.

On October 27, 2026, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada opened an investigation into Navigate360, the company behind the tip platform used by Crime Stoppers programs across Canada, after a hack that CBC reported exposed more than 1.5 million tips. If you have ever submitted a tip, treat any message asking about it with caution.

What happened

Crime Stoppers programs in Canada collect anonymous tips through P3, a platform owned by U.S.-based Navigate360. The Canadian Press reported that the company was hacked in March, citing CBC, which found that 1.5 million tips submitted to Canadian programs over the past 25 years were exposed. Cybernews reported that a Navigate360 press release dated October 23, 2026, gave the period of unauthorized access as November 21, 2025, to March 5, 2026.

Navigate360 said it immediately opened its own investigation, took “mitigation measures” and added safeguards with the help of another cybersecurity firm, according to The Canadian Press.

Crime Stoppers of Hamilton was one of the first Canadian programs linked to the breach: in June 2026, Hamilton police said they had been told its data might be included. The wider picture became public in late October. On October 21, 2026, Toronto Crime Stoppers stopped accepting tips through its website, phone line and app. CTV News reported that nearly 180,000 Toronto tips submitted between January 2022 and November 2025 were included, with nearly 15,000 associated names. Toronto Crime Stoppers said it was told in April that its data had not been taken, and in June that it had been.

On October 25, 2026, CJME News reported figures for Saskatchewan: 81,683 tips and 11,076 names across the province’s programs.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) says its investigation will examine whether Navigate360’s security safeguards complied with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA, Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law). Crime Stoppers itself is not the subject: the OPC notes PIPEDA generally does not apply to not-for-profit organizations, and says it has offered the programs its guidance.

Several things are not yet known: whose names are in the data (tipsters, people named in tips, or others), whether any data has been misused, and the full picture for each province. As of this writing, we found no public figures for programs in BC or Alberta.

Who is affected

People who submitted tips to Canadian Crime Stoppers programs, and people named in those tips. Programs say they normally remove identifying details before a tip goes to police, but some original submissions held more. Toronto Crime Stoppers said it had not received the full contents of the stolen tips, so it could not yet say exactly what was exposed.

The response is wide. Police services across Ontario, and at least two in Manitoba including Winnipeg, have paused tips through the program, The Canadian Press reported. CBC reported the freeze had grown to 35 agencies across Canada.

What to do now

If you submitted a tip

  1. Be wary of anyone who contacts you about a tip. Toronto Crime Stoppers says it will never ask for a tip number, password or other information.
  2. Check your local Crime Stoppers program or police service before submitting a new tip; many have paused.
  3. Call 911 if someone is in danger. For non-emergencies, contact your local police directly.
  4. If you have a specific safety concern, raise it with your local police.

If you run an organization

  1. List the vendors that hold your most sensitive information, and what each one holds.
  2. Ask each vendor how quickly, and how completely, it would tell you about a breach. Put the answer in the contract.
  3. Keep only what you still need. Data held for years is still data that can be taken.
  4. Have a written plan for what you will tell the people you serve, and who decides.

What this means for organizations in BC and Alberta

This case is a reminder that privacy rules for not-for-profits differ by province. The OPC explains that BC’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) explicitly includes not-for-profit organizations, while Alberta’s PIPA covers only certain non-profits, and only for their commercial activities.

Alberta’s PIPA requires organizations it covers to report breaches that pose a real risk of significant harm to Alberta’s privacy commissioner. BC’s PIPA does not currently require private-sector organizations to report breaches to the BC commissioner, though voluntary reporting is encouraged. For not-for-profits in British Columbia or Alberta, it is worth confirming which law applies before you need it. Our compliance and risk work starts there.

How happier IT helps

We help organizations map where their sensitive data lives, including with vendors, and put sensible checks around it. Our managed security services watch for trouble and help you respond calmly. If you’d like to see where you stand, start with a free IT assessment.

Sources

Common questions

What happened in the 2026 Crime Stoppers data breach?
Navigate360, the U.S.-based company that provides the P3 tip platform used by Crime Stoppers programs across Canada, was hacked. CBC reported that more than 1.5 million tips submitted over 25 years were exposed. On October 27, 2026, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada opened an investigation into Navigate360.
Is it still safe to submit a tip to Crime Stoppers?
Many programs and police services have paused tips through the platform while they review it. Check your local Crime Stoppers program or police service for its current status. In an emergency, call 911; for non-emergencies, you can contact your local police directly.
What should I do if I submitted a tip in the past?
Be cautious of anyone who contacts you about a tip. Toronto Crime Stoppers says it will never contact people to ask for a tip number, password or other information, and that such requests should be treated with suspicion. If you have a safety concern, contact your local police directly.

More from the feed

Other incidents we've written up.

Want to know what this would look like for you?

A 30-minute call. No slides, no audit fee, no obligation. We ask what is breaking and tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.

Book a 30-minute call Get a free IT assessment

Or call 1 (888) 897-3611