Update: Gov. Mike Dunleavy has asked for the Department of Law to conduct an investigation into how and what information has been shared by the State with the Municipality of Anchorage, and how it was used in a recent Anchorage program that had contracted employees calling Anchorage residents to inquire about their vaccine status.
Dunleavy was responding to word of a potential violation of law after a group of Alaskans were contacted by individuals working on behalf of the Municipality of Anchorage about COVID-19 vaccine information. The Municipality received the names and contact information of those individuals through an unauthorized action by staff at the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Though a data sharing agreement with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services exists with Anchorage’s municipal Health Department, the unauthorized sharing of information did not occur through that channel.
The Governor also directed DHSS Commissioner Adam Crum to conduct an internal review of all the department’s data sharing agreements.
“Alaskans value their right to privacy, especially sensitive health information, and they have a right to know how that information may or may not be used,” said Governor Dunleavy. “While the data shared appears to be limited, I apologize to any Alaskan affected by this action. The department of law will investigate the facts of the event while health and social services will report back to me with new policies and procedures that will prevent this from happening again.
Original story: People in Anchorage say their privacy was violated when contractors from the Municipality of Anchorage called them to ask them if they’re ready to make an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine.
According to one woman who spoke at the Anchorage Assembly this week, the call took her off guard. How did the Municipality know she had not been vaccinated? Who gave the Muni that information?
It turns out, lower-level personnel at the State of Alaska gave the Anchorage Health Department a data set.
A source in the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services said there is a data-sharing agreement between the municipality and the state health department, but the information is general in nature. It is not medical information and it’s not likely a violation of federal health information privacy laws, known as HIPAA.
The goal of the Muni’s project was educate Alaskans on vaccine and answer their questions, the source said, and the focus was to be on vulnerable populations, 65 years and older, especially those who might have a hard time figuring out how to get a Covid vaccine.
“No personal information was asked. The focus was on asking if they had questions and if they wanted help scheduling an appointment,” the source said.
But the data set sent by the State to the Anchorage Health Department was then used by non-municipal contractors, and now the State is following up to make sure the data has been fully destroyed.
