The B.C. government knew seven months ago about a serious security breach involving sensitive personal information from 1,400 income-assistance clients, yet only notified the affected people last week, the Times Colonist has learned.

RCMP officers found the missing documents inside the Victoria home of a government worker in April, said Sgt. Andrew Cowan, head of the RCMP Federal Commercial Crime Team in Victoria.

"We gave them over to the government in early May," Cowan said yesterday.

Yet it wasn't until last week -- seven months later -- that the province sent letters informing people their names, addresses, birth dates, social insurance numbers, personal health numbers and monthly income-assistance eligibility amounts had turned up in the employee's home.

The minister handling the file, Ben Stewart, said he wasn't told about the case until two or three weeks ago. "He may have found out about it two weeks ago but that doesn't have any bearing on when we gave them [the files]," said Cowan.

The revelation of such a lengthy delay sparked outrage from those whose information went missing and who received letters advising them to take steps to protect their identities.

Salome Waters, a 56-year-old disability assistance recipient in Victoria, said she was outraged. "I'm horrified. How dare they keep this information from us for so much time?"

The type of information in question -- names, birth dates and social insurance numbers -- is often used to commit identity theft and obtain government documents such as birth certificates and drivers' licences.

Stewart has said the RCMP was conducting a "totally unrelated" investigation into the employee when police inadvertently found the missing provincial information.

That investigation, which remains ongoing, concerns allegations of fraud and false pretenses, said Cowan. The RCMP is working with Insurance Corporation of B.C.'s special investigation unit, which handles cases of fraudulent drivers' licences and identity cards.

Cowan said police have sampled a cross-section of the 1,400 government files and are confident the information was not misused.

"We never found any indication the names we checked, which were probably about 10 per cent [of cases], had been involved, or used, or related in any way to identity theft or breach of privacy," said Cowan.

"Once, in our minds, it became clear it didn't appear the names had been used for applying for credit cards, or identity theft, or fraud in any way, we discontinued that aspect of that investigation."

But those affected chastised the government for characterizing the police investigation as "unrelated" given the potential link between fraudulent IDs and their sensitive personal details.

"It boggles the mind," Waters said. "Do they think we're idiots? Did they think this wasn't going to come out? How dare they treat us like morons. I don't even know what to say."

NDP critic Shane Simpson slammed the government for keeping quiet about the security breach.

"To have not told people that they should take the necessary steps to protect their personal information and their security is outrageous," he said. "It's irresponsible for a government to do that. If your bank did that, you'd be moving your money somewhere else."

Simpson said the government should be more up front with clients about what happened. "But it seems that the government is more interested in trying to cover the matter up or make it less serious than it may very well be."

The RCMP said it hopes to conclude its investigation within three or four months. The employee was fired in recent weeks, but Stewart was unable to shed light on what the employee has been doing since April, when the files were discovered.

rfshaw@tc.canwest.com

lkines@tc.canwest.com