Secure USB Drive

The personal health records of over 83,000 Canadians have been lost on an unencrypted USB memory stick.

The device was lost by a member of staff from a centre in Ontario State, and contained data collected from everyone who attended H1N1 or seasonal flu vaccination clinics in the region over a period of nearly two months. The information included personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, health card numbers, doctor’s names and so on.

Perhaps other Governments could usefully follow the lead taken in the UK, where the Information Commissioner has started issuing warnings to Health bodies about the importance of protecting data, with instructions for them to adhere to the UK Data Protection Act. This includes mandatory encryption of data on removable storage media, which is easily delivered and managed using our secure flash drives and CMC management software.