On May 5, 2021, Shub Law filed a class action lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health (“DOH”) and their contractor, Insight Global, Inc (“Insight”) for failing to protect individuals’ private health information that was exposed in a data breach involving sensitive medical records of over 70,000 Pennsylvania citizens.
The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of a Nationwide Class and a Pennsylvania Sub-Class. The case is styled as Chapman v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health, et al, No. 1:2021-cv-00824-CCC.
WHAT IS THE PENNSYLVANIA DOH DATA BREACH ABOUT?
The Pennsylvania DOH Data Breach occurred after Insight won a $23,000,000 contract from Pennsylvania for contact tracing. The complaint alleges Insight employees made contact tracing calls, and then used a Google sheet to store private health information these calls. But, there was no password protection or additional security needed to access the sheet, so the sheet could be found through a simple Google search.
Insight Global employees raised concerns internally about the security of private health information as early as November 2020. Later, a whistleblower brought these security concerns about private health information to the Pennsylvania Department of Health in February; however, neither party took action. Insight later became aware of the breach on April 21, 2021, and at that time the PA Department of Health and Insight took action.
The lawsuit further alleges that both the Department of Health and Insight failed to have adequate data security measures that may have prevented the data breach.
OVER 70,000 PENNSYLVANIANS’ SENSITIVE MEDICAL RECORDS HAVE BEEN EXPOSED IN THE PENNSYLVANIA DOH BREACH
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health contracted Insight for contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 29, 2021, Insight disclosed the Pennsylvania DOH Data Breach. Insight stated that their contact tracers collected exposed private health information from September 2020 to April 2021. The Pennsylvania DOH Data Breach exposed private health information, including, but not limited to:
- names of people with possible exposures to COVID-19;
- positive or negative status for COVID-19;
- whether the individuals experienced symptoms;
- information about number of members in the individual’s household;
- email addresses;
- telephone numbers; and
- information to address any needs for specific social support services.
CONTACT US!
Shub Law continues to litigate the Pennsylvania DOH Data Breach and investigate the claims of those affected. Additionally, Shub Law is actively investigating whether citizens of other states may be affected by Covid-19 related data breaches involving Insight. Our firm aims to secure justice for those who had their personal and private health information exposed to unauthorized persons.
Contact us now for a free consultation if you want to know more about the Pennsylvania DOH Data Breach. Shub Law Firm is a national leader in data breach litigation. We specialize in fighting for the little guy. You can reach us by email at leads@shublawyers.com or give us a call at 856-772-7200. All consultations are free of charge.
