Anna Bradley-Smith  |  April 30, 2021

Category: Data Breach

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Tens of Thousands of Pennsylvania Residents Affected by COVID Contact-Tracing Data Breach

Tens of thousands of Pennsylvania residents could have had their personal information exposed when Insight Global, the company in charge of the state’s COVID-19 contact-tracing, experienced a data breach.

Data that “may have been accessible to persons beyond authorized employees and public health officials” included the names of people who may have been exposed to COVID-19, their symptoms, household composition information, emails and telephone numbers, and information needed for social-support services, Law360 reports.

Insight Global said that it did not collect people’s Social Security numbers or financial information, and it was so far unaware of any misuse of the data — which comes from locals that would have been contacted between September 2020 and April 2021.

70,000 individuals are affected by the breach, WPXI-TV  reported, although Insight Global has not yet released any approximate numbers.

In 2020, Insight Global won a $23 million contract to provide the state with 1,000 contact tracing staff. Insight Global said that it has “robust” security on its in-house platforms, but some employees had set up and used Google accounts for sharing information as part of an “unauthorized collaboration channel,” reports Law360.

“We deeply regret this happened and are committed to restoring the trust of any residents of Pennsylvania who may have been impacted,” Insight Global said. “All necessary steps are being taken to secure any personal information, and we intend to learn and grow from this.”

The company said it learnt of the possible breach on April 21, and had prevented any further access. It added that a dedicated call center would be set up on Friday to answer questions from the public about the incident.

Pennsylvania’s Health Department Spokesperson Barry Ciccocioppo told the Associated Press that the company “disregarded security protocols established in the contract,” reports Law360.

“We are extremely dismayed that employees from Insight Global acted in a way that may have compromised this type of information and sincerely apologize to all impacted individuals,” he said.

Insight Global isn’t the only company facing data management issues with COVID-19 contact-tracing. This week, Google was hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly exposing Android users’ sensitive personal information to third-parties

“For those who have reported testing positive, it enables third parties to link that diagnosis back to the particular patient, defeating the purported anonymity Google claims for its service,” the class action states.

Have you taken part in any contact-tracing program? What has your experience been like? Let us know in the comments section!

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One thought on Tens of Thousands of Pennsylvania Residents Affected by COVID Contact-Tracing Data Breach

  1. Jasmine L Conner says:

    Plz add me

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