Nearly 176,860 Toronto tips submitted between 2022 and 2025 were included in stolen data

Toronto Crime Stoppers has suspended its program after a major data breach exposed nearly 176,860 tips, many of which contain confidential information.

The organization on Wednesday announced it would immediately stop accepting anonymous tips by phone, online and through its app.

Toronto Crime Stoppers said the data was stolen from a third-party software provider earlier this year. The breach included nearly 14,980 names that were submitted in tips dating from January 2022 to November 2025, though it’s unclear how many names belong to those who submitted tips or were mentioned in them.

The breach was first reported by CBC on Wednesday. More than 1.5 million tips submitted to Canadian Crime Stoppers programs over the past 25 years were exposed in the breach. More than half of those tips contained personally identifiable information, including thousands of reports in which tipsters provided their full names.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Toronto Crime Stoppers chair Sean Sportun apologized and said the organization’s promise of anonymity has been broken for some tipsters.

“Since 1984, people in Toronto have come to Toronto Crime Stoppers because we promised they could stay anonymous. This week’s reporting shows that for some of them, that promise was broken,” Sportun said.

Toronto Crime Stoppers said Navigate360, the U.S.-based company that owns the P3 tip submission platform, informed the organization of the breach in June, though the hack occurred in March.

Navigate360 initially advised in April that Toronto’s data had not been affected, according to Crime Stoppers.

“When it told us in June that Toronto’s data was affected, it didn’t say what was exposed,” Sportun said of Navigate360’s communications. “To date, we still have not seen the text of the stolen tips. We have been pressing for months and continue to do so, especially in light of this week’s reporting.”

In July, Navigate360 provided identification numbers for nearly 176,860 affected Toronto tips and advised that 12,392 potentially contained personal information, though that later inflated to about 14,980 by September.

Toronto Crime Stoppers said its practice is to remove potentially identifying details before forwarding tips to investigators, but some original submissions containing that information were stolen from the P3 platform.

The organization said it has been working with law enforcement and technology partners since June to develop a safer system for accepting anonymous tips.

Toronto police response

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) has temporarily suspended its use of Crime Stoppers while the situation is reviewed and additional security measures are assessed.

In a statement on Wednesday, Toronto police said the hack raises serious concerns about the protection of confidential information.

“The safety of members of the public, tipsters, and police personnel is paramount,” police said.

TPS said it is a separate organization from Toronto Crime Stoppers and that the compromised platform operates independently of the police service.

Toronto Crime Stoppers has removed the tip submission feature from its website and directed its software provider and the National Anonymous Call Centre to stop accepting or processing new tips intended for the Toronto program.

Members of the public are advised not to submit information through Crime Stoppers until a safer system is in place.

Anyone reporting an emergency should call 911, while non-emergency information can be provided directly to Toronto police through its existing reporting channels.

However, the organization acknowledged that reporting directly to police does not provide the anonymity traditionally offered by Crime Stoppers.

Toronto Crime Stoppers said it would provide further updates in the coming days and will not accept tips until it has a system it could confidently stand behind.

“People trusted us with their safety. We will not resume taking tips until we can stand behind the system that protects them,” Sportun said.