If your health information has been exposed
Health records can include your name, address, phone number, medical conditions and insurance details. The main risks are scams that use your real medical details, and embarrassment or discrimination. A leak of medical information is serious even when no money is taken.
Do this first
- Find out who held the data. It's usually the hospital, clinic, laboratory or health insurer named in the notice you received.
- Ask them in writing what information was exposed, when, and what they're doing about it. Keep their reply.
- Watch for calls and messages about "test results", "treatment", "insurance claims" or "refunds". Scammers use real medical details to sound genuine.
Then
- Protect your insurance and hospital numbers. Share them only when you start the contact, not when someone calls you.
- Check any accounts linked to that phone number or email for unusual activity, and change their passwords.
- Ask what you're entitled to. Nigeria's data protection law gives you rights to know what an organisation holds about you and to complain if it was careless with it.
- If the organisation doesn't respond, you can complain to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission. Bring your written correspondence.
Going forward
- Ask providers how they store and share your records before you give them more.
- Be careful with health apps and forms that ask for more than they need.
- Keep photos of medical documents out of shared folders and group chats.