A Thai woman on Monday said she feared that the nation’s data might get into the scrupulous hands of the kingdom’s criminal underworld after finding the pancake she bought from a shop in Chon Buri province wrapped in paper which revealed a hospital patient’s personal information.
The woman approached the press to spread the story because she feared that the information might get into the wrong hands.
The Standard reported that a woman in Chon Buri made them aware of the situation. Her pancake was wrapped in paper with patient information from the Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital, which is under the supervision of the Royal Thai Navy.
The woman told the platform that she was with her family in Chon Buri on Saturday, September 17, bought a pancake from a cart near a public park in the province and noticed the treatment history of a patient on the wrapping paper.
The paper wrapping revealed the 13 digits of a patient’s ID, full name, phone numbers, and phone numbers of relatives, etc. The woman added that there were a pile of similar documents at the pancake shop ready to be used.
Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital was featured at the top of the documents and all of them were dated 2019.
The woman said…
“The treatment information and also personal information should be kept secret. The hospital has to take responsibility for this. It’s a serious issue.”
The Standard added that they were worried about the customers’ health too because the papers came from a hospital incubating germs, disease, and sick patients.
The Royal Thai Army spokesperson, Pokklong Montartpalin, said the department acknowledges the issue and would like to apologise for the mistake. He admitted every hospital under army control needs to be more careful with information security.
Pokklong revealed that most patient information is collected online via electronic medical records but added that some information is recorded by doctors on paper.
Pokklong believes the problem emerged because random people could gain access to the area where the old documents are stored in preparation for destruction, and someone took the documents and sold them to a recycling shop.
Pokklong added that the executive board of the hospital was investigating the issue and would take a measure to prevent a similar scenario in the future.
According to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) of Thailand which came into effect last June, any persons or organizations that violate the information security of others could face imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of up to 1 million baht, or both. The victim can also claim compensation from the offender.
SOURCE: The Standard Thai PBS