Kamloops This Week
The personal information of an estimated 500 current and former Interior Health employees was found by Mounties in the Lower Mainland when they arrested two people on two separate occasions in the past three months.
The health authority has now hired external security and privacy experts as it investigates the information breaches.
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Mal Griffin, vice-president for human resources at Interior Health, said the organization first became aware of a potential information breach in late June when it was contacted by Lower Mainland RCMP following the arrest of a person who had possession of personal information of a number of people, the majority of whom were identified as IH employees.
An internal investigation was initiated and impacted employees were immediately notified, Griffin said. On Sept. 20, IH was notified by RCMP of a second, similar situation involving a different person.
The stolen information includes names, addresses, birthdays and social insurance numbers.
Griffin said the information found is connected to employee records, noting “there is no concern for patient information.”
“It’s unclear how this information was obtained, but we see some linkages between the two incidents, which has resulted in us enlisting the support of external security consultants,” Griffin said, adding that both incidents have been reported to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
Griffin refused to elaborate about how the information may have been stolen or what form it was in, citing the ongoing police investigation and that of the security company contracted by Interior Health.
“We don’t want to compromise the investigation,” he said.
Griffin said IH has contacted all impacted current employees and is in the process of notifying former employees. All are being offered one year of credit-monitoring services.
“Personal information can be used to create identities and people use them to obtain credit cards and bank accounts so they can fraudulently get access to money,” Griffin said. “Unfortunately, it’s on the rise.”