Royal Perth Patients Details Found On Dumped Computers
Confidential patient details are being left on old computers dumped in an open skip bin in a busy laneway at Royal Perth Hospital. Personal information, including patient names and addresses, dates of birth, medical conditions and patient numbers, was accessed with ease by The Sunday Times this week. Sources say up to 500 computers have been dumped in the bin, pending collection, since November. The computers had also been sent to auction yards in the past without their hard drives wiped clean. About six weeks ago a man was seen stuffing computer parts into a bag before taking off on a motor cycle.
The hospital yesterday denied this, saying the computer hard drives were cleaned and the computers were collected every day by contractors to be crushed.
Workers at a second-hand computer business said they had received computers from RPH in the past. They said it was the previous user’s responsibility to clean information off hard drives.
It is unclear how many of the computers contained confidential records.
A hospital spokeswoman said RPH had a contract with a scrap metal company that crushed all hospital computers to ensure all data was destroyed.
WA Police are investigating claims by The Sunday Times that the newspaper was able to access private details of hospital patients from old computers found dumped outside a hospital.
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