TORONTO – An SD card containing health information of over 18,000 people in Peel has been stolen from a city employee’s car.
Emil Kolb, chair of the region of Peel, made the admission Monday in a press release:
“We take our responsibility to protect personal health information very seriously. We did not do that and I apologize to all residents of Peel – but most importantly to those who were directly affected – for this breach,” her statement read.
The card was inside an employee`s bag which was stolen from their car on September 24.
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The stolen, unencrypted SD card contained the name, address, birthday, age, marital status and assessment information of clients who were part of the region’s Healthy Babies Healthy Children program between March 2010 and August 2011.
The information does not however include social insurance numbers of health card numbers.
Regional health officials have started to contact people affected by the breach.
Privacy Commissioner Ann Kavoukian said her office is investigating the privacy breach. Her office had previously issued orders stating personal health information must never be unencrypted while stored on portable devices.
“I am astounded to learn that someone within Peel Public Health appears to have been using unencrypted mobile storage devices to store personal health information,” Cavoukian said in a statement Monday.
Healthy Babies Healthy Children is a voluntary program offered to new parents in Peel and offers in-home support by nurses at no cost and resources for parents from pregnancy to early childhood.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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