Interior Health Authority ends privacy breach investigation

The Interior Health Authority says there's no evidence of further privacy breaches after an investigation by an outside privacy and security expert.

Health authority officials say in a press release the initial privacy breach involving approximately 500 current and former employees likely happened in December 2009.

That’s when they believe someone improperly accessed a database with personal information for all health authority employees employed between January 2003 and December 2009.

The information included social insurance numbers, birth dates, email and mailing addresses and phone numbers.

While no evidence exists of the information being used illegally, the health authority says anyone who worked within that timeframe should be aware of the breach and take extra precautions with their identification, credit cards and passwords.

If employees have concerns their information may have been breached or may have been a victim of identity theft, they should call both the RCMP and the Interior Health Authority. It has established a phone line for current and former employees, 1-877-469-7059, available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.


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John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca

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