Complaint
An individual filed a complaint with our office alleging that the Whitehorse Health Centre, operated by the Custodian, does not have a secure alternative to email or fax for individuals to submit their access requests for immunization records. The complainant was concerned with the security risks associated with this.
Investigation
The Whitehorse Health Centre uses a secure file transfer system to send sensitive information (e.g. immunization records), however, they do not provide a secure means of collecting personal health information from clients. Email is not a secure way to send or collect health information because it can be intercepted.
Decision
Noncompliant. It was our view that the Custodian had an obligation to provide a secure means of collecting information from individuals.
Recommendations
Accepted. The Custodian accepted our recommendation to provide a secure means for individuals to submit access requests for their immunization records. Government of Yukon uses a secure file transfer system that allows for a link to be sent to an individual; information can be submitted securely to the link, and so the use of email is not necessary. The Custodian adopted this as their secure means for individuals to submit requests, which satisfied the recommendation.