234,000 people may be affected in personal information breach, says Health P.E.I.

234,000 people may be affected in personal information breach, says Health P.E.I.

Interim CEO says health card information that was obtained not considered high risk

Health P.E.I. says the personal information of around 234,000 people may have been obtained in a privacy breach.

The health authority said Monday that a company providing services to Health P.E.I. — Maximus Canada — was the target of a cybersecurity incident. Health P.E.I. said an "unauthorized person" obtained a copy of a file created in 2011 that contained health card information.

"Although we can’t be certain of the exact magnitude of the file, we anticipate that it could be up to approximately 234,000 individuals," Laurae Kloschinsky, interim CEO of Health P.E.I., told CBC News.

Health P.E.I. said the following people may be affected by the breach:

Health P.E.I. said the file contained some or all of the following information: first name, last name, date of birth, date of death (where applicable), gender, P.E.I. personal health number and Medicare eligibility information.

Kloschinsky said the health authority believes the risk associated with the breach is low.

"Health card information isn’t generally considered key identification for when we’re applying for a passport or we’re seeking other pieces of identification," she said.

"Health card information in isolation isn't generally something that we would consider high risk."

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Kloschinsky said the risk of further breaches is low, and Health P.E.I.'s own internal data systems are protected.

"Most of our data is saved within the system, which would have those extra layers," she said.

"That’s what we’re working with our partner on.… We want to make sure that all our partners are using best practices."

Anyone with questions is asked to contact Health P.E.I.’s privacy office by phone at 1-800-375-3503 or email: privacybreach2026@ihis.org.

Joseph Watt is a reporter and associate producer with CBC P.E.I. He holds a master's degree in International Journalism from City University of London. He can be reached at joseph.watt@cbc.ca