Olivia Carville reports: Three hospital workers have been charged under Ontario’s health privacy law for snooping into former mayor Rob Ford’s medical records after he was diagnosed with cancer. If convicted, this will be the first time in Ontario’s history that an individual has been successfully prosecuted under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)…
Category: Non-U.S.
IE: More than 100 breaches of HSE patient data in past year
Darragh McDonagh and Brian McDonald report: More than 100 data protection breaches involving sensitive personal information held by the Health Service Executive (HSE) occurred over the past year, internal documents indicate. Details of the incidents, which occurred between April 1st, 2014 and April 1st, 2015, have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. Read…
Islamic State supporters hack website of Syria rights watchdog
Sylvia Westall reports: Purported supporters of the hardline Islamic State group hacked the website of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog on Wednesday and threatened its Syrian director who has documented abuses on all sides of Syria’s war. The Britain-based Observatory, which tracks the conflict using sources on the ground, took down its website…
UK online banking users hit with Dyre malware phishing attacks
Jason Murdock reports: Online banking customers in the UK are being warned of a major phishing campaign using a notorious piece of malware designed to steal financial data. Customers of Barclays, Santander and Lloyds TSB are being targeted by the trojan malware known as Dyre. Nearly 20,000 malicious emails have been sent in the last…
UK: Address mistake causes data breach
James Illingworth reports: An investigation has been launched after a Wigan resident was sent confidential tax documents due to a civil service mix-up. Barron Roberts raised the alarm after receiving the bundle containing a dozen forms with personal information relating to borough households through the post this week. Read more on Wigan Today. The Department for…
UK: Home Office didn’t notify ICO about dozens of breaches last year
Alexander J. Martin reports that the Home Office had 33 data breaches during the last financial year, but did not report any of them to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The incidents were disclosed in the department’s annual report and accounts 2014-15 (PDF). There’s nothing illegal about the failure to notify the ICO, however. Martin reports: The number…