Under this Lee-gime neither PAP minsters nor top guns need to be held fully accountable for their incompetencies and major failures, SG is really regressing from 1st world back to 3rd.

Poll: 91% Want Health Minister To Resign Over HIV Data Leak

91% of Singaporeans want Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong to resign over recent revelation of the massive HIV data leak.

This was according to an online survey conducted by Wake Up Singapore after confidential information belonging to 14,200 HIV-positive people was leaked online.

The sensitive information included names, identification numbers, phone numbers, addresses, and HIV test results, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a press release.

Those records are in the possession of Mikhy K Farrera Brochez, an American who was deported from Singapore last April after he was convicted of fraud and drug-related offenses and sentenced to 28 months’ jail.

His boyfriend, Singaporean doctor Ler Teck Siang, had access to the HIV registry.

The HIV data leak is the third major fiasco to plague MOH since Minister Gan took office. In 2018, Singapore experienced its worst cyber attack after hackers stole the personal particulars of 1.5 million patients from SingHealth’s database. In 2016, 25 people were infected with Hepatitis C at SGH. Eight of the patients died and five of the deaths could be linked to the infection. An independent review committee (IRC) into the hepatitis C infection at Singapore General Hospital pointed to lapses at SGH and gaps in the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) infectious diseases reporting system.

https://wakeupsg.com/2019/02/02/poll-91-want-health-minister-to-resign-over-hiv-data-leak/

Honest mistake, all charges against the government will be summarily dismissed. MOH will just put up the usual template statement: we can do better next time.

MOH will just drag any lawsuit for years until the HIV becomes full blown AIDS hah.......spend the plaintiff(s) to death.

HIV data leak: Affected persons can sue MOH but proving damages would be hard, lawyers say

HIV-positive individuals who had their confidential data leaked due to the actions of a Ministry of Health (MOH) staff member have the option to sue MOH but proving that they have suffered significant damage would be hard, according to lawyers interviewed by Yahoo News Singapore.

If these individuals were among the 14,200 people in MOH’s HIV Registry whose data had been compromised, they can also take the two persons at the heart of the leak to court, the lawyers said.

“If Ler has breached his duty of confidence whilst in the employ of the Ministry of Health, the ministry would be vicariously liable,” said lawyer George Hwang.

He was referring to Dr Ler Teck Siang, who was the head of the MOH’s National Public Health Unit, where he had access to details of the data that was leaked. 

Ler downloaded the information onto a thumb drive and it ended up in the hands of his lover, Mikhy Farrera Brochez, who leaked it online after being deported from Singapore over fraud and drug-related offences in April last year. 

On Monday (28 January), MOH announced that the compromised data included personal information such as contact details and medical information of the affected individuals.

Ler, who resigned from MOH in January 2014, was sentenced to 24 months’ jail in September last year for abetting Brochez in cheating and providing false information to the police and MOH. He is currently awaiting the appeal against his conviction and sentence.

He was also charged in June 2016 under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for “failing to retain possession of a thumb drive” containing data from the HIV registry. His OSA charge has been stood down pending his appeal. 

Government can ‘sue or be sued’

Lawyers pointed out that under Section 5 of the Government Proceedings Act (GPA), government agencies and ministries could be held accountable for the illegal actions of their employees if they were performed in the course of their normal duties.

To determine whether MOH could be held accountable, one has to consider whether Ler’s actions were sufficiently within the scope of his employment, said lawyer Genesis Shen.

“If Ler had authorised access to the database as part of his ordinary course of work, his actions would appear to be sufficiently related to his job,” Shen added.

According to the lawyer from Templars Law, MOH’s data-management policies need to be re-examined. He noted, “There’s also a question of why a single doctor had unfettered access to the entire patient database, when he would only require information from one patient at a time.”

Lawyer Hwang pointed out that the Singapore government can sue or be sued under the Constitution.

“It is vicariously liable for any breaches of conduct by its employees by virtue of tort law and the Government Proceedings Act,” said the director of George Hwang LLC.

Breach of confidence

While MOH might be liable, the scope of any civil suit arising from the data leak is limited to the actions of its employee Ler, who would be in breach of his statutory duty if he were found to have leaked the confidential HIV data.

“If Ler had given his access code to the records or data to Brochez, he could have committed an offence under the Computer Misuse Act,” Hwang said.

A HIV-positive person who is considering taking action against MOH or individuals involved in the incident would have to prove a “breach of confidence”, which would require several conditions to be fulfilled.

The person’s leaked information must be proven to be confidential and have been given in confidence, Hwang said. The recipient of the information must be proven to have used the information without authorisation and caused damage to the person, he added.

Similarly, if Brochez is a third-party recipient of information with knowledge that it is confidential, he has the same duty as Ler not to publish the information.

“However, he is no longer in Singapore. He published the information in the USA. It will be easier to bring an action against him in the USA,” Hwang noted.

When asked if MOH could be taken to court on grounds of negligence, the lawyer said it is a possibility. The key test is proving whether MOH has “exercised due care” in handling confidential data before 2016.

He was referring to MOH’s statement on Monday that since 2016, it introduced additional safeguards against mishandling of information by authorised staff.

Hwang said the question to ask is whether the measures were introduced in a timely manner and benchmarked against the best practices in other countries.

Proving damages is hard

But the HIV-positive individuals who are considering legal action against MOH or related individuals involved in the data leak would have to realise that the hurdles – while not insurmountable – are daunting.

Lawyer Josephus Tan from Invictus Law pointed out that the plaintiffs would need to quantify the damages caused or loss suffered as a result of the leak.

They may also have to cope with significant legal costs and the intense media glare, Tan said. Moreover, initiating a suit against Brochez would be contingent on whether his extradition back to Singapore is successful, he added.

The affected individuals would have to prove, for instance, financial loss, psychological harm or mental distress to get damages, said John Koh from Populus Law. But intangible loss, such as loss of reputation or mental distress, would be harder to prove as opposed to tangible loss, such as loss of employment, he added.

“Unless the leaked information resulted in some form of loss, I foresee most potential plaintiffs facing the uphill challenge of proving that the leak by itself should result in damages,” Koh said.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/hiv-data-leak-affected-persons-can-sue-moh-proving-damages-hard-lawyers-say-115140245.html

Now that the identities of the infected are revealed and everything is all out in the open, time to ready the gas chambers. Just plain and simple damage control, no hard feelings - it ain't personal.

Just when we thought Penang Cow had definitely won for most inept minister ever, shorty pudgy Gan had to come spoil the party. GAN-NI-NA.

Experts worry about fallout from HIV leak

Deception by American raises questions on how he managed to evade employment checks by MOM, MOE and polytechnics

The repercussions of the HIV registry breach is likely to go beyond the 14,200 people whose personal data was leaked online, say experts.

Political analyst Eugene Tan said the scandal has raised questions on whether Singapore's systems are robust enough.

The Singapore Management University law don told The New Paper it is worrying how the man behind the leak, Mikhy Farrera Brochez, now 34, managed to evade so many checks.

After arriving here in January 2008 to join his Singaporean lover, Ler Teck Siang, the American used a fake passport to take an HIV test, which was positive.

But he managed to deceive the Ministry of Manpower about his HIV status twice with the help of Ler, who provided his own blood for the HIV tests.

The deception enabled Brochez to get an employment pass.

He then used fake certificates to get teaching jobs at two polytechnics and at least one private institution over eight years.

At Temasek Polytechnic, he taught psychology and early childhood subjects from February 2009 to January 2011. 

He also claimed to be a child prodigy and the youngest registered psychologist in the history of the American Psychological Association.

He then worked as a lecturer in Ngee Ann's School of Humanities & Social Sciences from June 2011 to April 2012.

Highlighting how Brochez managed to get away with his deceptions for so many years, Prof Tan said: "It makes one wonder how many others might have also beaten the system.

"He might have had help, but when you look at the roles he played as an educator and child psychologist, it raises the question on whether checks across the sectors were robust enough."

Though investigations began on whether Brochez had faked the HIV tests in 2013, the couple were arrested only in 2016.

In 2017, Brochez was sentenced to 28 months in jail. After his release in April last year, he was deported.

Ler was sentenced to 24 months' jail last September for abetting Brochez's cheating offence, which he has appealed against.

He also faces another charge of mishandling confidential information under the Official Secrets Act.

On Monday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) revealed that the personal details and HIV status of 14,200 individuals had been leaked online by Brochez.

It is believed that Ler, then the head of the National Public Health Unit, had downloaded the confidential information onto a thumb drive, which somehow ended up with Brochez.

Experts agreed the incident highlighted several flaws in Singapore's systems from healthcare and education to how stringent the checks are for job applicants with certificates from overseas institutions.

Temasek and Ngee Ann polytechnics told TNP that they verify the educational certificates submitted at the point of application against the original certificates.

Prof Tan added: "We don't know how the consequences will be played out and can't say how extended they will be."

Dr Carol Balhetchet, a clinical psychologist who has experience in child psychology, said that she is "baffled" and "appalled" that Brochez was able to teach and practise for eight years.

She said: "Children, particularly those who might have special needs, behavioural issues or learning difficulties, and their parents had trusted him.

"If you give the wrong advice, the emotional and mental impact is unimaginable. To have someone unqualified doing this is really scary."

Dr Balhetchet, who is also a part-time polytechnic lecturer, said the fact that Brochez, with falsified qualifications, was allowed to teach polytechnic students is shocking.

"It tarnishes the reputation of the polytechnics and the field of psychology as a whole."

https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/experts-worry-about-fallout-hiv-leak