Snooping

For the month of October, our IT/IS team wants to highlight Cyber Security Awareness. The campaign aims to support staff with tools and knowledge on how to protect their digital assets, personal and work information, and online privacy. We’ll be posting information on cyber security every week along with a trivia question. Participants have a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift Card.

Snooping can be defined as the act of prying into someone else’s affairs, particularly in a sneaky or intrusive manner. This includes both casual observation and use of more sophisticated techniques involving technology.

What is considered Snooping in Health Care?

Accessing medical records on yourself, your family or friends is considered snooping and a privacy breach under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA).

If you need access to records on yourself, your family or friends contact the Health Records Department Release of Information to process your request.

The ability to access does NOT equal Authorization. You are only authorized to access patient/client information required to perform your duties.

Consequences of Snooping/breaches include:

  • Damage to your reputation
  • Damage to hospitals reputation
  • Tangible and intangible harm to patients
  • Employment (Suspension or terminations)
  • Professional license repercussions
  • Up to $200,000 in personal fines
  • Legal action against you and the hospital
  • Criminal charges and jail time

Types of Snooping

Snooping can manifest in various forms:

  • Physical Surveillance: Observing individuals in person, such as looking over someone’s shoulder at their screen.
  • Accessing medical records of a patient even when you are not actively caring for them.
  • Man-in-the-Middle Attacks: Intercepting communication between two parties without their knowledge.
  • Key-loggers: Software that records keystrokes to capture sensitive information like passwords.

Prevention Strategies

To mitigate the risks associated with snooping, individuals and organizations can adopt several preventive measures:

  • Train employees on privacy policies and the importance of safeguarding sensitive information.
  • Terminating your session on the computer when you are not actively using it
  • Regularly update antivirus software.

Week 4 Trivia Question

Answer this week’s trivia question and enter a draw for a chance to win an Amazon gift card: https://redcap.sjcg.net/surveys/?s=3YP8YH8EKM