Swiss online vaccine registry probed for data security issues
A voluntary electronic vaccination record platform is being investigated for data protection violations following a complaint.
On Tuesday, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) announced that it has opened proceedings against the platform operator Myvaccines foundation. The free service allows people to create an electronic version of their paper vaccination record to ensure they are kept up to date about their vaccinations. The platform has received the support of government public health departments.
According to a tweet from Republik magazine on Tuesday, 450,000 vaccination data, including those of 240,000 people vaccinated against Covid-19, were openly accessible and vulnerable to manipulation.
Two days ago, the magazine informed the FDPIC of its investigation into possible data protection violations on the www.mesvaccins.ch platform.
After examining the complaint, and consulting with the National Center for Cyber Security, the FDPIC concluded that the alleged breaches were plausible. The data watchdog has opened a fact-finding procedure in accordance with the Federal Data Protection Act against the Myvaccines foundations based near the Swiss capital Bern.
The electronic vaccination booklet, as offered on the platform, could infringe the personal rights of a large number of people, especially as sensitive health data are involved.
On Tuesday, the mesvaccins.ch website, which is available in four languages, was no longer accessible.
“Sorry, urgent maintenance is required. We apologize for the inconvenience and will do our best to shorten the duration,” the website says.
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