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Ambulance call data lost

Monday, 01 September 2008

Data, including names, addresses and phone numbers, from nearly 900,000 calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service has been lost.

The data was contained on a disc, reportedly containing 894,629 calls made between February 2006 and June 2008, which was sent by couriers TNT to a Manchester IT firm on 9^th June.

According to the ambulance service, the disc was password protected and encrypted.

Pauline Moore, acting chief executive, Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “All security procedures for the transfer of data were followed, however TNT have advised that they cannot find the package.

“The information stored on the disk is fully encrypted and it would be extremely difficult to access any names or addresses.

“The secure management of patient data is vitally important. We have followed recommended guidelines for the transfer of data and are currently addressing the issue with TNT.”