Personal Information of Some in Jails Possibly Compromised

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Staff at Multnomah County jails shared personal and medical information belonging to hundreds of people who were incarcerated, officials said.

A statement from the county said names, dates of birth and photos — as well as medical information like diagnoses and treatments — may have been released amid sharing between September 2019 and June, impacting more than 350 people, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

Risk of idenity theft

The data transfer affected people who were participating in the county’s program to evaluate if they were mentally healthy enough to participate in their own criminal defense. The information was shared with the county Health Department’s Behavioral Health Forensic Diversion staff for coordinating services to help with legal defense.

The county said it has not been able to confirm whether the information was legally shared in all cases. For some, county corrections health staff could not determine whether an order was in place to release personal information.

After completing its internal review, the Multnomah County Health Department sent letters notifying all patients whose information was disclosed.

Officials said they believe there is a “low to moderate” risk of the information getting into the wrong hands because it was only shared among county staff and the patients’ attorneys, but the county is offering free identity theft protection services to all of the people who were incarcerated and affected by the data transfer.