Queen Mary Hospital has confirmed the loss of a USB flash drive that contains personal data of 19 pediatric patients on Wednesday.
Those data include names and Hong Kong identity card numbers, originally stored in a password-protected computer, according to the hospital. But a clerical staffer at the pediatrics department stored the data on a non-password protected, non-encrypted USB flash drive during a system upgrade for backup purpose last July.
A spokesperson at the hospital said it has reported the incident to the Hospital Authority, the Privacy Commissioner, and the Police.