The issue of privacy breaches involving improper sharing of PHI with researchers has mushroomed for the B.C. Health Ministry:
The personal-health data of more than five million British Columbians has been accessed without proper authorization, and in the most serious cases, the provincial government says it will notify more than 38,000 individuals of the breaches by letter.
Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid made the announcement as part of an ongoing investigation into research-grant practices between ministry employees and researchers at the universities of B.C. and Victoria.
Read more on Globe and Mail. Note that these are not data security breaches and there’s no indication of additional disclosure or other use, but the data never should have been shared, it seems.