The personal details of more than 2,000 transgender patients have been leaked by mistake

[Maid In Bedlam]

This is not the first this has happened either.

 

My gender clinic did the same thing in 2014

 

If your not out or stelth then this is so scary. Potential to be life changing. I always made the point of not being on the email list just in case.

 

The article

 

The 2014 article

 

Good old NHS

 

 

 

 

[Charlize]

That is a pity.  I know if my information was simply put out there i would be annoyed at the least.  It sounds like attorney's are already rubbing their hands.

The true pity is that the individuals who were affected may have to worry about their safety either with their family or because of the potential of nasty acts by others.

A "small" mistake, quickly corrected can cause real pain.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[VickySGV]

I have not had this happen from a medical provider, but have had it from a couple of Trans related organizations where the bulk of the recipients were Trans people. I have assessed the potential for any real harm and found it very low, but I admit it was not what I wanted to see.  It was more like the old limerick I heard as a child as far as the potential harm to me:

 

A patron while dining at Crewe
Found quite a large mouse in his stew
Said the waiter, don't shout and wave it about

Or the rest will be wanting one too!!

 

Yes, one of my Trans, co-addresee's turned the matter public and they got it our where mainstream interests who were not going to be interested before became interested.   I do feel sorry for the real feelings of those affected though.  Only time will tell if financially measurable harm has occurred.

[Josie Beth]

This is one of the reasons I make it a point to not use services which sell my information. It’s also why I get a little leery about anything that insists on having a 3 part verification which links my email, phone and identifying information. They really don’t need all of that unless they are selling it to advertisers. And with a leak, it’s a dangerous way to pinpoint people who are vulnerable. Are we really sure that this isn’t the work of hackers selling their services to hate groups. It won’t be apparent until it’s already too late. The leak might be fixed and security measures may be improved, but that doesn’t solve the problem of who has the information or any hard copies that are floating around. 

[tracy_j]

On a lesser view it reminds me when there were broadcast information emails at work. They were not to be globally replied to but people often did without thinking. That meant that if the email was sent to 1000 people if half a dozen globally replied then all 1000 would recieved these individual (theoretically private but Ok - internal) replies. What a system!

 

For most this would not be a problem at all as, if the information is sent internally, it is still covered by confidentiality. Even some outside contractors would still be covered. The main thing, I think, is that the vultures play things up to get a bigger cut of the legal loot. Obviously the Scottish example appears far worse as patients are obviously involved in the communication (not obvious from the other example?).

 

A point I should make though is that one of the trickiest issues I came across when visiting patients was that they often knew each other. This is similar to our gender issues as the patients would go to group clinics or user groups and meet.  In general discussion things were often brought up which, due to confidentiality, even the knowledge of the other patient could not legally be acknowledged. It was never really a problem in practice but we bent the rules quite a bit (yet not admitting anything) as it would have been impossible to admit or deny a link specifically without compromising patient care. It never resulted in any problems although balancing some professional detachment but yet closely caring  was needed.

 

Tracy