guard.me privacy notice

UVic's primary provider of emergency medical insurance coverage for international students, guard.me, has informed the university of a cybersecurity incident resulting from an unauthorized third-party unlawfully accessing their data systems. Many of guard.me's clients are impacted by this incident, including UVic, and guard.me has contacted any impacted students directly.

The university takes the privacy of our students and community very seriously and we have followed up with impacted students directly. We are advocating on behalf of our students in this process and are working closely with guard.me to understand why this happened, what data is impacted and what actions they are taking to increase their security.

If you use guard.me's services, here are some things you can do to protect your privacy now:

• guard.me is offering credit monitoring services to individuals impacted by this incident for the next year. Contact guard.me for more information.
• If you use your guard.me passphrase for other websites or services, we recommend you change it immediately. It is never a good idea to use the same passphrase for multiple systems, as a breach in one system can put others at risk.
• Remain vigilant, as always, to the possibility of fraud and identity theft by reviewing your financial statements and accounts regularly for any unauthorized activity. Notify your local law enforcement of any suspicious activity.
• Visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to learn how to protect yourself from scams and fraud.
• Visit getcybersafe.ca to learn about cyber security and the simple steps you can take to protect yourself online.

UVic has reported this privacy breach to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC. If you have UVic-specific questions, please contact privacyinfo@uvic.ca. Otherwise, please refer to the guard.me customer notice or contact guard.me directly at mediarelations@guard.me or at 1-888-348-1946 or +1 905-752-6207.