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Healthcare industry continues to be main target of data breaches

by Confidentiality of information, Data protection & privacy breaches, Records management non-compliance

The healthcare industry has again reported the most data breaches to the privacy regulator in the first half of 2022, continuing a trend since Australia’s reporting scheme began in 2018.

Overall, 396 breaches were reported according to the OAIC’s latest summary — 14 per cent fewer than the 460 notifications in July to December 2021.

However, there were more data breaches involving a large number of Australians in the first half of 2022: four affected 100,000 or more, compared with just one in the previous half-year.

A data breach could include health information in an email sent to the wrong person, or even lost paperwork.

Likewise, the potential threat surface in health care is significant: “There is a lot of sharing of data between individuals delivering health services, the GP, the chiropractor, the pharmacy,” Mr Leonard said.

“By definition, the more … humans involved in handling information, the more likely something is going to go wrong.”

The government is currently completing a review of Australian privacy law, which will also consider the impact and effectiveness of the NDB scheme.

Read more: ABC News via MSN, 10 November 2022

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