A data set leaked by an unknown hacker appears to show that Americans comprise a vast majority of the users donating to Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” protest via the website GiveSendGo, a Christian-oriented platform that’s raised more than $US8.3 ($12) million to support the movement in opposition to public health measures intended to curb the spread of the covid-19 virus.
While the data set shows donors with Canadian addresses are responsible for a majority of the cash, almost half of the money — more than $US3.6 ($5) million — appears to come from users with payment methods tied to U.S. residences.
The data was leaked Sunday night during the Super Bowl by a hacker who defaced GiveSendGo’s website, sending visitors to a separate site with a video that accused the company of trying to foment insurrection in Ottawa. A link to the data set was provided alongside the video.
GiveSendGo, which reportedly suffered a separate leak less than two weeks ago, has so far not responded to a request for comment attempting to confirm the veracity of the data. The company’s website is “currently offline for maintenance and server upgrades,” according to a message that appeared on its homepage at the time of publication.
Gizmodo has reached out to several of the people who are listed as top donors, asking them to confirm their donations, including a person with the name Thomas Siebel, who donated $US90,000 ($124,938), according to the leaked data. (Thomas Siebel is the name of an American software billionaire.)
At the time of writing, only a single donor had responded, only to tell Gizmodo it should investigate Black Lives Matter instead.
The data, which includes donors’ names, email addresses, and postal codes, as well as payment methods, shows thousands of dollars pouring in from other locales far from Canada, including $US85,247 ($118,340) from Great Britain, $US33,734 ($46,830) from Australia, $US24,971 ($34,665) from Germany, $US10,660 ($14,798) from the Netherlands, and $US5,978 ($8,299) from New Zealand.
Smaller quantities of cash are linked to other distant countries such as Brazil ($US483 ($671)), China ($US792 ($1,099)), Ireland ($US7,226 ($10,031)), Japan ($US2,338 ($3,246)), South Africa ($US1,034 ($1,435)), and the United Arab Emirates ($US2,130 ($2,957)).
The map below shows the locations of donations originating from the United States based on zip codes included in the data. The sizes of the circles are relative to the amounts of money donated.
This second map reveals the amount of funding originating from each state, with California in the lead at an amount of $US545,513 ($757,281). (By far, the most donations came from California’s 14th Congressional district.)
Gizmodo acquired the data set from DDoSecrets, a journalist collective that works to provide reporters with access to newsworthy leaks, which had saved a copy of the data before GiveSendGo’s site went dark.
Daily Dot reporter Mikael Thalen first reported the hack during the Super Bowl. Vice News reported on the leak earlier on Monday, identifying Siebal as a top donor.
Last week, TechCrunch reported on a “security lapse” linked to GiveSendGo, describing more than 50 GB worth of files left exposed on an unsecured server. The files reportedly included passports and driver’s licenses.
Among the files on the server were messages previously left by at least one security researcher who’d found the company’s data. The warning informed the company of a misconfiguration allowing essentially anyone to access its files.
GiveSendGo has previously hosted campaigns raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for members of the street-brawling neo-fascist group Proud Boys, including to fund travel to Washington, DC, ahead of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, and afterward to defend members of the group from federal charges connected with the siege.
Analysis by the threat detection company Pyrra showed a sharp increase of mentions of GiveSendGo across a range of alternative social media platforms, many of them known for hosting dangerous and extremist views. Mentions of the fundraising site spiked by 14,440% over the past 30 days, including on the QAnon hub GreatAwakening and forum 8kun, a site infamous for its violent and racist content that’s also linked to perpetrators of at least three mass shootings.
Canadian press reported Monday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was preparing to seek access to Emergencies Act powers, granting him the authority to potentially force an evacuation of border crossing areas currently occupied by protesting truckers, as well as requisition tow trucks to remove vehicles disrupting key U.S.-Canada trade routes.
It would be the first time the Emergencies Act has ever been invoked; however, its predecessor — the War Measures Act — was invoked once during peacetime by Trudeau’s father, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, in 1970, after separatists from Quebec kidnapped then-Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross.