‘Malicious actor’ obtains sensitive data including Medicare numbers, treatment details and pathology results in cyber-attack on Partnered Health

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Australians’ medical records and patient information could be sold on the hidden market, an expert has warned, after a cyber-attack at one of the nation’s biggest healthcare providers.

Partnered Health revealed 21 clinics across several cities including Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra were affected when a “malicious actor” accessed its data on 23 June.

Health service has given US tech firm ‘unlimited access’ to certain data to build integrated platform, according to reports

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MPs have warned that an NHS decision to grant Palantir access to identifiable patient information in its plan to use AI to improve the health service is “dangerous” and will fuel public fears that data privacy is not being prioritised.

NHS England has allowed staff from the US tech firm and other contractors to access patient data before it has been pseudonymised, despite internal fears of a “risk of loss of public confidence”, the Financial Times reported.