SHOCKING

Millions of Americans’ Private Medical Data Available to View Online: ProPublica

One company showed patient names, dates of birth, doctors, and procedures after a basic search was performed.

About 5 million Americans’ medical images and health care data are available online after typing just a few lines of code, a ProPublica investigation found. One hundred eighty-seven servers hosting private medical information were left unprotected without a password or basic security precautions in states from Florida to California. One company, MobilexUSA, showed patient names, dates of birth, doctors, and procedures after a basic search was performed. A doctor’s office in Los Angeles reportedly had patients’ echocardiograms available to see on the Internet. ProPublica reports that many of the servers lacked security precautions that have been standard for businesses and government agencies for years. In all, medical data from more than 16 million scans worldwide was available online, including Social Security numbers in some cases.