BORN Ontario data breach left health data of millions exposed. What went wrong? – GLOBAL

September 26, 2023

A massive cyberattack that left the health data of mothers, newborn babies and parents seeking fertility treatment exposed, could have been entirely prevented if more protective measures were put in place, according to Canadian security experts.

The Better Outcomes Registry & Network (BORN) on Monday revealed that 3.4 million people — mostly those seeking pregnancy care and newborns who were born in Ontario — had their personal health information compromised in May.

“This is appalling,” said Ann Cavoukian, Ontario’s former information and privacy commissioner. “The personal health information that was copied was collected from a large network of mostly Ontario health-care facilities.

If BORN had de-identified the data by stripping personal details such as names, health care numbers and addresses, it would have provided the “strongest protection” in the event of a data breach, she said.

Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/9985743/born-ontario-health-data-breach/