Alert as 170,000 blood donor files are stolen20-02-2008
by Breda Heffernan and Edel KennedyA laptop with the confidential records of more than 170,000 Irish blood donors and 3,200 patients has been stolen in New York. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) last night admitted it was "deeply concerned" by what is the first major data protection scandal to hit Ireland. The IBTS will be writing to all donors concerned this week, warning that their information could be accessed by criminals who made off with the laptop. But last night, a leading data-protection expert warned that the IBTS could be open to a flood of lawsuits if the confidential records are made public. He also questioned why the data was taken out of the country and out of the possession of the board in the first place. For details of full article, please click here. ©independent.ie | 
