Medical records belonging to over 8,000 patients of a doctors surgery in Magherafelt, Co Derry, have gone missing. The incident occurred when the surgery sent a tape cartridge containing medical data to an IT firm based in London using a courier company. The cartridge tape was collected in December by the courier but it was reported that it failed to arrive. You can read more about the incident here and here.
When I regularly speak with GP’s about medical data on their computer systems they all share the same concern, losing the data to an outside source. The doctors surgery in Magherafelt most likely shared that concern and had taken precaution by ensuring the data tape had some sort of security protection. A GP from the surgery is quoted saying:
“The computer tape is security protected and requires a specialist programme which is normally only used by GPs and the data verification company in order to make any sense of the information on the tape“.
This sounds as if the medical data was encrypted but there again data encryption was not mentioned in any news articles which could be worrying for some.
If you are a GP or work in a doctors surgery does your practice have adequate data protection for medical records?
One of things I like to see from employers is having heavy IT restrictions placed on staff. Go ahead and boo or hiss at me, after working 10 years in IT I am very used to it. Placing computer restrictions on staff isn’t about making people more productive during work hours (although people use it as a reason) but more to protect the company and the staff that has access to sensitive data.
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There’s an interesting story that states that 9,000 USB sticks are lost in laundrettes every year in the UK. The story also says that London taxi drivers claim that over 12,000 portable devices are left in their cabs every year. It just shows how easy it is to overlook these devices that often contain sensitive personal or business data that is often covered by regulator laws.
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We are pleased to announce the launch of DataDefense in addition to our online data protection services. DataDefense gives business owners more control over their data via a web-enabled interface removing total dependence of end user compliance.
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There is yet another report of a laptop going missing with sensitive data on it. A laptop was stolen from the home of a HSE employee. Recent reports include the Bank of Ireland and other HSE incidents where personal data of their customers has been compromised. This damages the reputation of these organisations, their credibility when it comes to security, gets the Data Protection Commissioner very interested in their operations and damages their customers.
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