BC's online casino stays offline

Rob Shaw reports, via the Times Colonist:

The B.C. Lottery Corporation's troubled online gambling site, PlayNow.com, will remain offline until it is proved safe by independent testing, the province's privacy watchdog announced yesterday.

A technical review by an outside company must convince Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham that the site is secure and that people's privacy will be protected, before it is allowed back online, Denham's office said in a statement.

No timeline for the review was given, and it is unknown when the website could relaunch.

B.C. Lottery Corp. disabled the online gambling site just hours after it launched last Thursday because a major security breach compromised the security of 134 users and allowed people to bet $8,000 from accounts they did not control.

Read the rest.

I've already talked a little about the BC Lottery Corporation's troubles, but it's a story that bears more coverage. After all, here we have the first online casino in Canada, being brought to fruition thanks to the efforts of a government that in years gone by actually opposed gambling, then being shut down thanks to major breaches of privacy for its users.

What a fiasco.