Physical Data Security Breach at HSE storage facility

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has recently been under scrutiny due to new significant data breaches. The breaches, which were related to the storage of paper medical records, has raised serious concerns about security measures in place at the HSE.

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has opened an investigation into the HSE over these breaches. The breaches were notified to the DPC by the HSE and were related to two specific locations accessed by unauthorized third parties. Videos taken from these locations, showing paper medical records, were circulated on TikTok.

The HSE confirmed that the two separate data breaches occurred in 2023 and has pledged full cooperation with the inquiry.

In a statement, a HSE spokesperson said, "The HSE takes all breaches of data protection seriously and manages all breaches of data protection in line with data protection legislation and HSE policy".

This new HSE data breach serves as a stark reminder of the importance of physical data security as a part of  information security responsibility and concerns of any organisation, especially those within the public domain.

References

(1) Data watchdog investigating breaches at HSE - RTÉ. https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2024/0529/1451767-hse-data-breaches/.
(2) paper records at external storage facilities. HSE facing inquiry into two leaks of patient data - MSN
www.msn.com/en-ie/health/other/hse-facing-inquiry-into-two-leaks-of-patient-data/ar-BB1ndXQW
(3) TikTok video revealing access to medical records spurs inquiry into HSE data breaches TikTok video revealing access to medical records spurs inquiry into HSE data breaches – The Irish Times

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