Probe urged into data security

The Data Protection Commissioner has been urged to open an immediate investigation into how HSE patient files are protected, after a string of unencrypted records were lost or stolen from the system.

A patients’ group made the call after the Irish Examiner revealed that dozens of laptops, USB sticks, and smartphones containing unspecified “sensitive” unencrypted data have disappeared over the past four years.

The situation includes 52 laptops, 13 USB sticks, three BlackBerrys, and one iPhone — 51 of which held sensitive information on patients and the system, and 20 of which had no encryption defences in place.