\n<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE \u2013 An invitation to an event sent by the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) has sparked privacy concerns after a mailing list exposed the identities, contact details and, in some instances, workplaces of individuals with a genetic cancer condition.<\/p>\n
The e-mail, an invitation to a Living with HBOC event \u2013 referring to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome,<\/span><\/a> which can affect both genders \u2013 was sent on Sept 18 to the NCCS\u2019 list of individuals associated with the condition, according to screenshots shared with The Straits Times.<\/p>\n However, instead of using the BCC (blind carbon copy) function, which keeps recipients hidden, the CC function was used.<\/p>\n Those who received the e-mail could thus view the names, e-mail addresses and workplaces of others with the genetic condition, if they had used their workplace e-mail address.<\/p>\n In a subsequent e-mail from NCCS, seen by ST, recipients were requested to delete the earlier e-mail with addresses visible from their inboxes and trash folders.<\/p>\n They were also asked not to circulate it further and to refrain from using or saving any e-mail addresses listed.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease be assured that this was an administrative error that affected e-mail addresses only. We are thoroughly reviewing our internal processes to ensure that this does not happen again,\u201d the e-mail said.<\/p>\n In response to queries, a spokesperson for the Personal Data Protection Commission said that it is aware of the incident and investigating.<\/p>\n ST has contacted NCCS and SingHealth for more information.<\/p>\n Sent at 7.53pm, the original e-mail invited recipients and their loved ones to the NCCS event scheduled for Oct 31.<\/p>\n Checks by ST of the NCCS website show that it is an invite-only event from 10am to 12.30pm and is for people living with HBOC and their relatives. It will feature an \u201cinformative session\u201d and \u201cinteractive workshops\u201d.<\/p>\n Various e-mail addresses can be seen in the screenshots. The sender appears to be a member of the NCCS Cancer Genetics Service, which provides genetic counselling to individuals with a history of cancer.<\/p>\n One recipient, who spoke to ST on the condition of anonymity, said the number of visible e-mail addresses was \u201ctoo numerous to count\u201d.<\/p>\n They estimated there could be more than 500.<\/p>\n They said e-mail domains identified the companies, foreign embassies and schools of those on the NCCS HBOC list. In the e-mail thread, they also saw a list of NCCS doctors, including their own.<\/p>\n \u201cThis effectively discloses each person\u2019s association with hereditary cancer screening or counselling to a group of strangers,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt ties identifiable people directly to a health condition, which is a more sensitive category of personal data than a typical CC mishap.\u201d<\/p>\n The recipient was worried that people they had never met would know about their genetic condition.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know who they are, whether they will pass this information to someone else, or whether it will come back to affect me at work or with insurance one day,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Adding that their children have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting the genetic mutation and will need to be tested once they turn 21, they fear their children\u2019s future employment and insurance prospects could be affected.<\/p>\n They said the NCCS attempted to recall the e-mail 2\u00bd hours after it was sent.<\/p>\n The recipient has also informed the agency\u2019s quality service manager and asked for a follow-up.<\/p>\n HBOC is an inherited genetic condition most commonly caused by mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. These genes make proteins that repair damaged DNA and protect against tumour growth.<\/p>\n The harmful inherited mutations significantly increase a person\u2019s lifetime risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers, as well as prostate, pancreatic and skin cancers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 An invitation to an event sent by the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) has sparked privacy concerns after a mailing list exposed the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":86244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/86244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\n
Read Full Article At Source <\/a>
\n