Kaiser health records kept in unsecured warehouse, private home

Kaiser Permanente may–or may not–have fully dodged a near-atomic data breach of over 300,000 patient records and more. A now-public dispute between Kaiser and a vendor which stored records for some of their Southern California hospitals has put Kaiser in the hot seat for its practices with both the California Department of Public Health and US Health and Human Services (HHS). This long-time vendor was sued by Kaiser initially for not returning all records after the contract ended, and for storing records in questionable circumstances including a shared warehouse storing party rental items and a Ford Mustang, plus other records on home computers and hard drives stored in open garages. The vendor countered by accusing Kaiser of not encrypting transfers of electronic files and sending patient data requests and other sensitive information via unencrypted email. By the end of the Los Angeles Times article, you’ll be holding your aching head in disbelief at both sides, while reaching for the Tylenol (or Panadol). Vast cache of Kaiser patient details was kept in private home.