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NH DHHS commissioner apologizes to families receiving breach notifications for deceased relatives

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Dissent

AP reports that New Hampshire’s health commissioner is offering an extra apology as his agency deals with a data breach that led to personal information of up to 15,000 people being posted online.

The extra apology follows recent media coverage describing the emotional reaction of a woman who received a letter addressed to her son who died nearly eight years ago.

The woman’s reaction, shared publicly, serves as a useful reminder to us all: when notifying people about a breach that may have occurred a while ago, realize that some of them may be deceased, and it will be their survivors who receive and read the notification. And receiving that letter may be a painful reminder of their loss.

Perhaps in such situations – where you might reasonably expect a percentage of those being notified will have died in the interim –  include a statement in the notification that if the recipient is receiving notification for a deceased relative, you’re genuinely sorry for reminding them of their loss, but you are trying to protect them from being victimized by those who would misuse their loved one’s information.

#JustAThought

Category: Breach IncidentsGovernment SectorHackHealth Data

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