New York State Department of Health Data Breach (2012)

Inadvertent release to adoptee of birth mother's identity leads to reforms - New York State. New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott yesterday released a report of an investigation that found the State Department of Health's ("DOH") complex and antiquated storage of vital records led to the inadvertent 2012 release of a birth mother's confidential identity to an adoptee; found human error led the DOH's Bureau of Vital Records to release a partially redacted Transcript of Birth to an adoptee in 2012 in which the adoptee's biological mother was identified, despite the record being specifically flagged with restrictions to its dissemination.