Manitoba Health is reporting a privacy breach that has compromised the personal health information of clients of the Manitoba Health Appeal Board (MHAB). A break-in occurred at the MHAB office, located at 500 Portage Ave. in Winnipeg, late in the evening on Nov. 29.
The extent of the situation is not yet known, but confidential information was securely stored in the office. It is believed that personal health information and other private information of some clients has been breached. In a very small number of instances, this could include social insurance numbers.
Manitoba Health recognizes its responsibility to protect personal information. Staff have begun contacting potentially affected clients to notify them of the break-in and potential breach of privacy, beginning with those whose social insurance numbers were known to be on file. This will also include referring people to resources on how to prevent identity theft, as outlined at gov.mb.ca and canada.ca.
The Mental Health Review Board (MHRB) also shares office space with the MHAB. At this time, it appears two MHRB applicant files were touched during the incident. The people affected have been or will be contacted directly as soon as possible.
The incident was reported to the Winnipeg Police Service. Manitoba Health and Manitoba Mental Health and Community Wellness will fully co-operate with the investigation. The province will also review the incident to determine if anything can be done to prevent a similar incident in the future. This matter has been reported to the Manitoba Ombudsman, as is standard practice.
