Police in Vancouver say a man is facing identity theft charges after British Columbians鈥� personal information was allegedly accessed through the PharmaNet system.
An investigation was launched in February after police were notified that someone was fraudulently using information obtained through the data system.
鈥淚nformation gathered confirmed that the suspect gained unauthorized access to the PharmaNet system and gathered patient鈥檚 personal data,鈥� police said in a statement. 鈥漈hat information was then used for fraudulent purposes.鈥�
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PharmaNet links all B.C. pharmacies to a central set of data systems and logs all prescriptions, maintains basic profiles that include names, addresses, dates of birth, personal health numbers and medication histories.
Officers executed a search warrant in Richmond, B.C., last week and arrested one man.
Police said he is facing a number of identity-theft related charges.
The province said in a release Monday that 20,500 people may have had their information viewed inappropriately, up dramatically from the 7,500 people originally believed to have been affected.
The government has said there were four incidents of 鈥渦nusual鈥� activity on the PharmaNet system and the breaches are alleged to be the result of cybercrime that targeted doctors鈥� and medical offices and PharmaNet service vendors.
The Health Ministry has sent letters to people affected by the breaches and said they will be offered free credit monitoring, while a letter was sent to affected health-care practitioners, telling them how they can prevent unauthorized access.
In February, the ministry said it was first notified of the breaches last fall. Premier Christy Clark said then that she was 鈥減rofoundly disturbed鈥� by the incidents.
The province said Monday that various ministries have done a 鈥渟ignificant amount of work鈥� since the breaches were discovered and 鈥渕ore robust鈥� security measures will be implemented for PharmaNet and the system鈥檚 vendors.
It said the Information and Privacy Commissioner has also been notified and is receiving regular updates.
The Canadian Press
