Babylon Health admits GP app suffered a data breach
Babylon Health has acknowledged that its GP video appointment app has suffered a data breach.
The firm was alerted to the problem after one of its users discovered he had been given access to dozens of video recordings of other patients’ consultations.
A follow-up check by Babylon revealed a small number of further UK users could also see others’ sessions.
The firm said it had since fixed the issue and notified regulators.
Babylon allows its members to speak to a doctor, therapist or other health specialist via a smartphone video call and, when appropriate, sends an electronic prescription to a nearby pharmacy. It has more than 2.3 million registered users in the UK.
Leeds-based Rory Glover had access to the service via his membership of a private health insurance plan with Bupa, one of Babylon’s partners.
On Tuesday morning, when he went to check a prescription, he noticed he had about 50 videos in the Consultation Replays section of the app that did not belong to him.
Clicking on one revealed that the file contained footage of another person’s appointment.
“I was shocked,” he told the BBC.
“You don’t expect to see anything like that when you’re using a trusted app. It’s shocking to see such a monumental error has been made.”
Mr Glover said he alerted a work colleague to the fact, who used to work for Babylon. He in turn flagged the issue to the company’s compliance department.
Source: BBC News