Australia Privacy Breach, 8 January 2021

The private details of every Tasmanian who has called an ambulance since November last year have been published online

Pager messages include patients’ personal details and condition as well as the address of the incident were automatically published.

Source: Tasmania Police called in after ambulance patient details published online | ABC News (Australia)
More reports from: ABC News (Australia).

Ambulance Tasmania uses a paging system in initial communications between the dispatch team and paramedics on the ground.

Pager messages dating back to November have been uploaded to a website, which is still live and continually updating.

Information made public also includes a patient’s HIV status, gender and age, raising concerns it could lead to discrimination or stigmatisation.

In a statement on Friday afternoon, Health Minister Sarah Courtney said she was “very concerned to hear that the sensitive information of some Tasmanians had been posted to a website”.

Ms Courtney said it was her “understanding that access to the site has been blocked”.

SK – This is almost identical to Western Australia’s Pager Publishing Breach last year in 2020.