Hong Kong Hospital Authority apologises for data breach involving 56000 patients South China Morning Post

pPrivacy watchdog and police investigating after patients names identity card numbers dates of hospital visits and medical procedures leakedppHong Kongs privacy watchdog and police are investigating a largescale data leak involving more than 56000 patients served by the Hospital Authority which reported the unauthorised retrieval of a variety of informationppThe authority on Saturday apologised to affected victims patients of hospitals in Kowloon East for the breach that compromised their names identity card numbers genders dates of birth dates of hospital visits and details of surgical procedures among other informationppThe authoritys monitoring system detected a suspected unauthorised retrieval of patient information and a leak on a thirdparty platform at around 2am on Friday although a subsequent review of its internal network systems did not indicate a cyberattackppThe authority has conducted a thorough review of its internal network systems upon discovering the incident confirming that the systems are operating normally and securely with no indication of a cyberattack or similar factors The authority immediately suspended the contractors system maintenance work it saidppIt said it promptly reported the breach to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and police and would fully cooperate with their investigationsppThe authority said it would notify affected patients through various channels including its HA Go mobile application letters and phone calls as soon as possible It said residents could also call a dedicated hotline if they had inquiriesp