Singapore says American leaked HIV status of more than 14K people

The Singapore Ministry of Health said the HIV-positive status of 14,200 people, along with their names, identification numbers, phone numbers, addresses and other health information, were illegally leaked online by an American.

The leaked records belonged to 5,400 Singaporeans diagnosed with HIV up to January 2013 and 8,800 foreigners diagnosed up to December 2011, the health ministry said. It said the information is still illegally in the possession of Mikhy K. Farrera Brochez, a United States citizen who was living in Singapore on an employment pass until May 2018.

According to a statement from the ministry, in March 2017, Brochez was convicted on numerous fraud offenses related to his own HIV status, which he lied about “in order to obtain and maintain his employment pass,” the ministry said. He was sentenced to 28 months in prison.

After deporting him, the health ministry found that Brochez still had the records and subsequently began posting them online. He is currently being investigated by police, according to the ministry.

Brochez’s partner, a Singaporean doctor named Ler Teck Siang who worked for the health ministry, initially helped Brochez lie about his HIV status and had access to the confidential information that was leaked, the ministry said. It believes Len’s “mishandling” of the information led to the leak. The doctor was convicted and sentenced to 24 months in prison for helping Brochez “commit cheating” and for lying to the police, and also faces charges under the Official Secrets Act for “failing to take reasonable care of the confidential information regarding HIV-positive patients,” the ministry said.

The ministry said it has added additional safeguards to prevent mishandling of information, including two-person approval to download and decrypt registry information and a workstation specifically made and locked down to prevent unauthorized information being removed. Additionally, the use of unauthorized portable storage devices on official computers was disabled in 2017.

“We are sorry for the anxiety and distress caused by this incident,” the ministry said. “Our priority is the well-being of the affected individuals. Since Jan. 26, we have been progressively contacting the individuals to notify them and render assistance.”

In 2017, Aetna was criticized for inadvertently exposing the HIV-positive status of 12,000 members by mailing them letters about their HIV medication in envelopes with clear windows. – by Caitlyn Stulpin

Reference:

Singapore Ministry of Health. Unauthorized possession and disclosure of information from HIV registry. https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/unauthorised-possession-and-disclosure-of-information-from-hiv-registry. Accessed January 28, 2019.