NHS officials have admitted that sensitive medical data covering millions of patients has been stolen despite claims that the national records database has never been compromised.

Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosures reveal a string of security breaches – including the theft of an unencrypted laptop, holding details from the hospital records of more than eight million NHS patients, which could identify individuals.

Plans for a giant database of GP records have been put on hold for six months amid concerns about the security of the data, and fears of its potential misuse.

Reported by the Telegraph. You can read the full story here. 

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.