Singapore people with HIV shocked by data leak

from The Straits Times

14,200 people living with HIV in Singapore, who had their personal details leaked, are stunned.

The Singapore Ministry of Health has revealed that some 1,900 names in the leaked data were of people who had already died.

An HIV-positive US citizen, who had been deported from Singapore after serving a jail term, has leaked online the personal data of 14,200 Singaporeans and foreigners diagnosed with the virus.

The disclosure by Singapore’s health ministry late Monday, coming after last year’s news of a major cyber attack on its national health database, could further dent the highly wired state’s push to place itself as a data and health care hub.

45 year old G. Chew says that the leak has risked both his personal and professional reputation.

“I definitely fear that all this personal information might be publicly available to people at my workplace and beyond to scrutinise. Also, it’s the Internet – once it’s up there, it’s inerasable.

The man was contacted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) telling him that he was affected by the data leak.

“There is still a great stigma against people who have HIV. Information that I have HIV is definitely not something I want online. It’s not like it’s an award.”

Meanwhile, when Jay (not his real name), who is in his 20s, heard news of the leak, his first thought was of his 60 year old mother and the harassment and judgment she could face from family and friends.

“I have not told my mother about it, and I don’t intend to. I have accepted that AIDS is what I have to live with forever, but I am afraid that if this information is made public, that my family and close friends will be ostracised and laughed at,” Jay said, adding that only one close friend had known about his illness.

In a statement on Monday, advocacy group Action for Aids said it is deeply troubled by the incident which it said could damage the lives of persons living with HIV and their loved ones.

SOURCE: The Straits Times – Asia News Network