Jade Edwards reports:
A copy of patients’ records, which include names, addresses, national insurance numbers and bank account details, has been lost by an optometrist in Strood.
The protected back-up copy of Niall O’Kane Optometrists’ patient database was left on a train on Saturday, October 10.
Mr O’Kane wrote to patients explaining the situation. In the letter, he said: “The data is protected by two layers of security, but does include your name, date of birth, address, contact details and eye examination records.
“On a limited number of records, we also hold NI numbers. For those that pay or have paid by direct debit, the data loss will also include bank account details.”
Read more on Kent Online. The story appeared in their October 27th edition.
A web site to provide updates to patients indicates that the most recent update was on November 13:
Further to our last update, we can now confirm that the British Transport Police (BTP) have reviewed CCTV footage and have advised us that an unknown person took the laptop from the train on October 10th. The laptop has not been handed in to lost property and so the BTP are conducting an investigation into the theft.
At this time, there is no evidence of any data being accessed or used. The data is protected by two passwords.
We would like to encourage our patients to remain vigilant. Do not give information about yourself out over the phone and be aware of any suspicious communications by post or by email.
New procedures are now in place at the practice to secure your information, and to reduce the risk to your data in the future.
h/t @VERISDB