Crime Stoppers, which is comprised of a network of volunteer-run local organizations, has traditionally been a primary source of anonymous tips for police, with London-Middlesex Crime Stoppers previously telling CBC News it dealt with thousands of tips annually.

CBC's exclusive investigation published Wednesday — which analyzed a copy of the hacked data — identified that more than 1.5 million tips submitted to Crime Stoppers programs across the country over the past 25 years were compromised.

More than 850,000 tips — about half of all Canadian records identified — included personally identifiable information. CBC News could not determine in every instance whether the information belonged to a tipster, a victim or someone accused of a crime.