Privacy watchdog investigating release of homicide report

The province's privacy commissioner said it is investigating the mistaken release of a confidential homicide report byOttawa police.

In a statement attributed to Commissioner Brian Beamish, the watchdogsaid the Ottawa Police Service notified it of the incident Monday morning.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) of Ontario is now in the process of gathering more information from police.

"The purpose of our involvement is to consider the circumstances of the breach, whether the institution responded appropriately, whether they notified the affected individuals and if any measures should be put in place to prevent future privacy breaches," the statement reads.

The IPChas not yet received complaints from the people who were identified in the report, according to the statement.

Report distributed in error

Police were called to the Residence Inn by Marriott at WalkeyRoad and Bank Street around 11 p.m. Saturday, where they discovered the body of a male in one of the rooms.

The homicide report stemming from that call was mistakenly released in a mass email early Sunday morning.

It contained the personal information of several witnesses who gave statements to police including phone numbers and home addresses as well as a detailed description of the crime scene.

Nearly 200 people, including members of the media and several City of Ottawa officials, received the report. Police later asked those who got it to either delete or destroy it.

Const. Chuck Benoitsaid the release of the information could have consequences for the case.

"The investigators work very hard to keep information very tight," he said."When there's information like this that's in the public, sometimes it can be a harm for the investigation when it comes in front of the courts."

No arrests have been made in connection to the homicide.