Ticketmaster data breach sparks investigation from privacy commissioner

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has announced an investigation into a cyber attack on entertainment company Ticketmaster following a personal information breach targeting millions of customers around the world.

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada says it has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster Canada following a major data breach that involved the personal information of millions of people worldwide.

The agency says it launched the investigation in response to a complaint and will assess Ticketmaster's compliance with federal private-sector privacy law.

Ticketmaster, owned by U.S.-based Live Nation Entertainment Inc., notified customers in early July that "an unauthorized third party" snagged information from a cloud database.

The ticket seller said the accessed data could have included customers' names, basic contact information, and payment card information such as encrypted credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates.

Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne says the investigation will help the agency understand why the cyber incident happened and what must be done to prevent it from happening again.