The staff at the prestigious hospital involved in the data breach of the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton’s private medical records may have faced a ‘decoy’ trap set by managers, the Daily Mail said in a report.
It said that The London Clinic – which has been the go-to hospital for the Royal Family, leading politicians and celebrities – remains under investigation of the management of the hospital after it became known that at least one staff member had attempted to access personal details about Kate Middleton after her planned abdominal surgery in January.
The Daily Mail in its report said the case has not yet been referred to Scotland Yard even though the health minister Maria Caulfield stated in March that police had been asked to look at it.
Accessing a patient’s medical records without the consent of the organisation’s data controller is a criminal offence for any NHS or private healthcare staff.
The newspaper said that if there was a data breach, the staff who attempted the breach would have been caught through a ‘decoy’ tactic used by private hospitals that often have high-profile clients.
To protect the health data of VIP patients, hospitals often store it under a fake name. A ‘decoy’ file is then created using the celebrity’s real name, containing false information. Bosses regularly check this decoy file to see if any staff have accessed it without permission.
If a breach is suspected, hospitals must launch their own inquiry while the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) investigates whether management did anything wrong. However, this process is laboriously slow.
“Investigations into reported data breaches can be highly complex and our expert team must be given adequate time to make their enquiries. To protect the integrity of a live investigation, we will not provide regular updates on its progress to those not directly involved until its conclusion,” the ICO said in a statement.
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