d not been disclosed, the DHB was not able to discover the exact building the documents were taken from because a number of buildings on the former Sunnyside (now Hillmorton) hospital site were no longer in use.
The DHB acknowledged the incident highlighted that better safeguards should have been in place for the protection of the health information and it accepted that all patient information should have been removed. But it said the buildings had been secured and the information disclosed was the result of illegal entry and theft.
The DHB then implemented a more thorough process for decommissioning the buildings which included the removal of all documents. It also formalised the process for the decommissioning of future sites.
A woman bought a mobile phone for her teenage daughter, but the phone stopped working shortly afterwards. She returned the phone to the mobile phone retailer and received a replacement. She waited in the store while the retailer supposedly erased her daughter's information from the phone.
Around two months later, the woman's daughter received a text message from a friend. The friend said that a stranger had been sending her text messages asking about the daughter. The woman discovered that the mobile phone retailer had repaired her daughter's original mobile phone and had then on-sold it to the stranger. The phone still contained the daughter's contact list and photographs, and the stranger was using this information to try to find out more about the daughter. The woman was very concerned for her daughter's safety, and the daughter was upset that her details were in the hands of a stranger.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner contacted the retailer, and informed it of the woman's complaint. The retailer unreservedly apologised for the incident. Its policy was to make every attempt to ensure that personal information was deleted when customers had phones swapped as part of the warranty process.
The retailer recovered the phone from the second owner, deleted the daughter's information and then destroyed the phone. It sent a message to all staff stressing that they must protect their customers' privacy by checking all phones and clearing all stored information. It also gave the daughter a new phone. The mother was satisfied with the steps that the retailer had taken to address her concerns.
Insights from agencies
“Prepare for and anticipate the likelihood of a breach. Encrypt information on portable storage devices to anticipate their accidental loss or deliberate theft.”
“Develop simple and easy to understand policies and guidelines about privacy.”
“Have a no surprises policy. Tell everyone who needs to know what has happened. The Prime Minister, relevant government ministers, heads of departments and other partner agencies may be annoyed if they find out about an issue through the news media and not directly from your agency.”
- Establish email procedures that involve double‐checking the address to ensure it is correct prior to sending. For example, external addresses might display in a different colour.
- For mass emails, double‐check that all emails are contained in the bcc section.
- Ensure staff members are aware what they can and cannot email.
- When including attachments, make sure it is the right one.
- Spreadsheets can contain a lot of information. Protect them using passwords. Remind people to make sure the right document has been attached. It is also important to check what other information is hidden behind spreadsheet document tabs and in pivot tables.
- Have a policy on emailing spreadsheets. Is it really necessary to send the information in a spreadsheet format? If so, get employees to check if the entire document needs to be sent or if there is a way of extracting only the relevant information intended for the recipient.
- Develop a secure fax procedure. Double check fax numbers prior to sending and use a fax cover sheet with a privacy warning and your contact information for a misdirected fax.
- Use pre‐entered numbers for routine faxes and ensure you are selecting the correct k