Winners and HomeSense customers can breathe a bit easier after a
security breach was revealed last month. Company officials say Canadian banks apparently weren't affected by the problem.
On January 17 the stores' parent company, TJX Companies, revealed that hackers broke into its computer system, putting up to two million Canadian customers at risk for potential fraud.
The company discovered the problem in December and waited a month to tell the public.
More than 40 million debit and credit cards in the United States may have been affected.
The president of Winners and HomeSense, Michael MacMillan, says he believes Canadian debit cards weren't involved in the breach and has taken out a full-page ad in a Toronto newspaper to reassure customers that his company is taking steps to protect their privacy.
Canada's privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart and Alberta's information and privacy commissioner are investigating how the TJX database was breached and how it's affecting Canadians who shopped at its stores.
"I am profoundly concerned about incidents of this nature that put at risk individuals' personal information," Stoddart said in a statement earlier this week.
"I look forward to once again working with Commissioner (Frank) Work and his Office on a joint investigation, and to identifying corrective measures to ensure this kind of major privacy breach does not reoccur."
This case has raised concerns about the information retailers collect from their customers and why.
And another Canadian store found itself in a similar situation days later.
Club Monaco revealed that it too had suffered a security breach, putting customers' information at risk.
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