EDMONTON — Alberta’s government says it has made temporary changes to rules governing provincial voter lists after a major privacy breach. The province published a new policy Thursday that says copies of Alberta’s official voter list given to political parties will only include the number of voters in each voting area and municipality. The list previously included first and last names, home addresses, phone numbers and a unique identifier for each registered voter. The list is managed by Elections Alberta and distributed to political parties, legislators, election candidates and constituency associations for things like campaigns and fundraising. The change comes after a separatist group published a database in the spring that elections officials said included private information of nearly three million Albertans. Investigators traced the database to a copy of the list given to a fringe political party. The new policy is in effect until the end of this year. Justice Minister Mickey Amery’s office says the government plans to introduce legislation this fall and that Albertans should have confidence that their personal information is being protected. Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
