Kerala State Health Department Data Breach (2020)

Kerala, one of the worst-hit states in India’s COVID-19 crisis, reported five positive cases from Aythala in Ranni-Pazhavangady panchayat. The database of all the active patients, and those who came in direct contact with them, was maintained on the district administrator’s office computers. The data included information on other people coming into the district from abroad and those kept in self-quarantine, their recent travel history, residential addresses and contact details, etc. District Collector P. B. Nooh admitted that this COVID-19 database has been hacked and has since sought an investigation into the incident. The list of confirmed and quarantined patients in the district was handed over to the police and the district health administration to help them in continuous monitoring of respective individuals. However, the same list started appearing locally on various social media groups and forums. This is a severe breach of personal data as proposed in India’s Personal Data Protection Bill 2019.