The Town of Essex in Massachusetts has posted a notice to its web site that some records of the Essex Youth Commission are “presently unaccounted for.”
Based on the Town’s ongoing investigation such documents and computer files are believed to include, but not be limited-to, records relating to the Essex Youth Commission Summer Program and may contain protected health information or other personally identifiable information for individuals who participated in the Summer Program, including parents of participants and staff.
The town notes that it has notified the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services about the potential breach.
Jonathan L’Ecuyer of Gloucester Times reports that according to a statement issued by the selectmen:
the town immediately launched an investigation when it learned that the files were unaccounted for and it set in motion a plan for retrieval of the records, “which includes legal action,” the selectmen said.
That last bit is a tad curious. Do the selectmen suspect that someone associated with the program or commission removed the records? I wonder what kind of “legal action” they have set in motion, and why.