Identity Theft
What is Identity Theft?
The fraudulent use of someone's personal information — name, Social Insurance Number, credit card details, or other identifying data — without their consent. When a data breach exposes customer or employee records, identity theft is often the downstream consequence. Under PIPEDA, your organization has a legal duty to protect this information and to notify affected individuals if it's compromised.
Your obligations under PIPEDA →
Why this matters for Canadian businesses
Understanding Identity Theft is part of building a security programme that meets the 13 Baseline Cyber Security Controls published by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (ITSM.10.089) — the Government of Canada's recommended minimum standard for small and medium organizations. You can measure your organization against all 13 controls with our free cybersecurity assessment.
For the wider picture on how Canadian small and medium businesses are performing, see The Cybersecurity Canada Report 2026, our annual benchmark of incident rates, breach costs, and regulation affecting Canadian organizations.
Cite This Page
Suggested citation:
Cybersecurity Canada (2026). Identity Theft. Retrieved from https://cybersecuritycanada.ca/glossary/identity-theft/
Permanent URL: https://cybersecuritycanada.ca/glossary/identity-theft/
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Cybersecurity Canada is an independent resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, the Communications Security Establishment, or the Government of Canada.
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