Kolmostien Terveys breach exposes 10,263 Finnish ID numbers tied to Parkano and Kihniö

A file containing around 10,000 personal identity numbers linked to Kolmostien Terveys customers was breached on July 24, affecting social and health services in Parkano and Kihniö, YLE reported. The registry holder, the Pirkanmaa wellbeing area (Pirha), says the file dates from February 2016 or earlier and was created when Kolmostien Terveys began outsourced service production in the two municipalities. It held 10,263 personal identity numbers. It also included relatives' or contact phone numbers, bringing the total number of people tied to the data to roughly 12,000.

Pirha said the stolen identity numbers were not accompanied by names or organisational identifiers. No patient records or other clinical information were exposed. The lack of names makes misuse more difficult, but it does not rule it out, warned Sirpa Rainesalo, the welfare area's chief medical officer. The incident was reported to the National Cyber Security Centre, the Data Protection Ombudsman and the police. Pirha said it will not send individual letters to those affected because of the large number involved.

The incident follows earlier privacy problems at the Pirkanmaa wellbeing authority, including the authority's dismissal of an oncology specialist over a separate privacy breach earlier this year.