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Privacy Breaches

Privacy Breach Notice

The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit became aware of a privacy breach that occurred on September 30, 2020 in which a spreadsheet containing 17,600 client records from February 6, 2020 until September 24, 2020 was inadvertently emailed to an external party. The Health Unit was contacted by this party immediately upon receipt of the email to advise of the error and the email was deleted from their inbox as well as their trash folder. The spreadsheet contained names, date of birth, city, date of test, date of results, name of lab submitting, negative COVID-19 lab test results, travel, contact with possible case, contact with positive case, health care worker and which staff member contacted them. The Health Unit has completed the investigation of this incident, resulting in strengthened procedures surrounding the collection and release of confidential health information. From the investigation, it was concluded that the risk was low to the individuals listed in the file. As well, the Health Unit has notified the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario of this breach and is following the direction given by that office. The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit very much regrets this occurrence and takes seriously the responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of the personal health information of our community members. Any inquires about this breach can be directed to Lucia Taggart at [email protected] or 613-283-2740. Affected individuals are entitled to make a complaint to the Information and Privacy Commission of Ontario by calling 1-800-387-0073 or https://www.ipc.on.ca/.