Hospital fined after patient data found in street food wrappers

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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Hospital fined after patient data found in street food wrappers

I’m a big fan of recycling. But what about recycling our private data? Like medical records?

Well, according to local media reports, a hospital in Thailand has been fined after patient’s printed records were recycled as snack bags to hold crispy crepes!

An investigation by Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) found that over 1,000 protected records were leaked by the unnamed hospital after being sent for supposed destruction.

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The “secure disposal” business contracted by the hospital offered as an explanation that the documents had been stored at their home, and somehow leaked. Which doesn’t really feel like a satisfactory explanation at all to me.

Authorities in Thailand fined the hospital 1.21 million baht (approx US $37,000). The disposal business owner was fined 16,940 baht (approx US $520).

For a much better idea on how to integrate cybersecurity and food wrappers, check out what has been happening in Belgium.


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and hosts the popular "Smashing Security" podcast. Follow him on LinkedIn, Bluesky and Mastodon, or drop him an email.

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