There will be no welfare assessments under the ProAction program on Ontario farms until Holsteins Canada fixes a data breach.
Dairy Farmers of Ontario sent a communique to its members on Thursday to tell about the data breach that happened because a file transfer protocol was left accessible online.
Holstein Canada said “this incident was limited in scope. While the information may have been accessible and, in very few instances, viewed by third parties, after a thorough analysis we have no reason to believe your (producer) data has been misused.”
The site has been secured and Holstein Canada has a third party checking its cyber security.
This will take several weeks during which the Ontario milk marketing board is suspending Holstein Canada’s services assessing dairy cattle under proAction.
The marketing board said validation of farms under proAction will continue during the period the review is underway; farmers who do not meet the requirement of having a cattle assessment on file will not be penalized during the suspension.
Holstein Canada will be informing producers whose data was part of the breach by letter.
