Netcare database would lure hackers: privacy expert

Netcare database would lure hackers: privacy expert
Last updated Mar 20 2006 08:40 AM MST
CBC News

A U.S. internet security expert is warning Alberta that its plan to move private health-care information to an online database will provide an irresistible draw for computer hackers.

Melissa Ngo, a staff counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center based in Washington, D.C., says a single database containing records for every person in the province would simply be too tempting for hackers to resist.

"There is no truly safe place on the internet. If it's available on the internet, it's just calling out to hackers to try to break into it," said Ngo, whose work has focused on how federal and state identification proposals will affect U.S. citizens.

Last week, Health Minister Iris Evans announced the provincial government would spend $116 million to expand Alberta Netcare. By 2008, health information on every Albertan will be included in the database.

http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/story/edm-netcare060320.html

Guess it's all part of the "Third Way". Sort of like the Canadian Census.