Doctor's appointment phone call led to data breach

A doctor exposed confidential medical information when taking a phone call while examining a patient, a watchdog has revealed.

The Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA) said "identifying details and sensitive health information" about another person were overheard during the call.

The watchdog highlighted the incident as it reported a fall in serious data breaches in Guernsey during the second quarter of 2026. The authority said the disclosure created a "risk of distress and loss of privacy" for the person concerned.

Data protection commissioner Brent Homan said "breaches are not just about records, but include overheard conversations".

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The authority said the healthcare provider reminded the doctor of their data protection obligations and arranged additional staff training.

The watchdog recommended the training be given to new staff and refreshed annually to reduce the risk of a similar incident.

The authority said it received 49 breaches between April and June, with four classed as high-risk, down from seven in the previous quarter.

Ten cases were later found not to meet the threshold of a reportable breach, it said.

The figures follow statistics released in June which showed high-risk incidents had fallen from 12 to seven in the first three months of the year.

Homan said: "It is encouraging to see high-risk breach incident reports decline for a second quarter.

"When organisations report breaches they not only fulfill an important legal obligation but can benefit from our office's expertise in mitigating any harmful effects of a security incident."

The authority said emails sent to the wrong recipient remained the most commonly reported type of breach.

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