As Interior Health works to establish the facts around a massive, apparent data breach, one victim says she has been left piecing together the details herself.
Retired Registered Nurse Darlene Douglass says Interior Health revealed “very little” details on the document seized by Mounties back in January, which contained personal information – including names, dates of birth, and social insurance numbers – of more than 20,000 current and former employees.
Douglass, who worked for the health authority for 16 years, tells Radio NL she had to rely on local media to find out the details.
“So that is the way Interior Health chose to give the information out because with retired folks like myself, I have been retired for 15 years, they probably don’t have many avenues to reach us, but they could have damn well tried.”
Douglass says she is still searching for answers, even after calling the 1-833-705-2569 toll-free number set up by Interior Health for those impacted.
“She (the woman on the call) said, ‘Oh yes Darlene, you were affected!’ I immediately went into denial and then shock; I was struggling to grasp the situation,” said Douglass.
“She was – of course – very vague; she just gave me, not even everything I had picked up through the newspapers and local journalism, but only had a small amount of information.”
Douglass says while the woman on the phone asked for her email to send her details on the two-year credit monitoring being offered by Interior Health, she explained she wasn’t willing to share it due to the lack of trust.
“At the end of the call, I told her I could not give her my email because I have more questions; I don’t know what is going on,” added Douglas.
“I just need more answers and once you can understand a full situation then you know what to do with it, but right now, I was just reacting.”
Meanwhile, Douglass says there have not been many details about the investigation since, causing her to lose trust in the health authority.
“I was feeling egregious towards what I used to think was a fantastic employer; I felt betrayed, abused, and overexposed,” said Douglass.
“This is kind of an epic journey for me for feeling like I had identity theft, and I know that usually takes two years, if not a little longer to get your identity back,” she said.
Douglass says she wants answers, noting she doesn’t understand how her information has been lingering around for the past 15 years since retirement.