(Reuters) – A leak site says it has been given reams of data about the donors to the Canadian anti-vaccine mandate truckers after the fundraising platform popular with supporters of the movement allegedly suffered a hack.
Distributed Denial of Secrets announced on its website that it had 30 megabytes of donor information from Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo, including names, email addresses, zip codes, and internet protocol addresses.
At the same time, GiveSendGo appeared to be offline. Visitors to the website were met with the message that it was under maintenance and “we will be back very soon.” A message seeking comment from the site’s operators was not immediately returned early Monday.
A Daily Dot journalist said on Twitter that the site suffered a hack overnight and had its front page briefly replaced by a clip from the movie “Frozen” and a manifesto accusing it of supporting “an insurrection in Ottawa.”
Reuters could neither immediately confirm the hack nor the leak claims, although Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoS) has a long record of hosting leaked data from right-wing organizations, including the far right Patriot Front and the Oath Keepers.
DDoS said that, because the donor information contains sensitive personal information, it would not be making the data available publicly but will instead be offering it to “journalists and researchers.”
DDoS describes itself as a non-profit devoted to enabling the free transmission of data in the public interest.
The funding of the Canadian protests has emerged as a key point of interest as authorities in Ottawa and elsewhere try to get a grip on the rallies, which have been blockading cities and border crossings across Canada with demands that include the deposition of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
GiveSendGo became a prime conduit for money to the protesters after mainstream crowdfunding platform GoFundMe blocked donations to the movement. Earlier this month the group said it had raised $8 million for the protests.
North America’s busiest trade link reopened for traffic late Sunday evening, ending a six-day blockade, Canada Border Services Agency said, after Canadian police cleared the protesters fighting to end COVID-19 restrictions.
(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Nick Macfie)
