The Canada Revenue Agency, the country's equivalent of the IRS, sent comprehensive tax information about hundreds of Canadians to CBC News, in what is being considered a significant breach of privacy, according to a CBC report.
The news organization received 18 pages of information from 2008 to 2013, including home addresses and tax credits, from the tax agency.
Among the hundreds impacted were celebrities and famous Canadians like author Margaret Atwood and former prime minister Jean Chrétien, whose donations of manuscripts, photographs and fine art were revealed. One Rubens painting donated was valued at $200 million.
Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay related details of the breach to the House of Commons and called it “extremely serious and completely unacceptable, the CBC reported.
