Philly health department website exposed names of thousands of people with hepatitis

A public-data tool built by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to track the prevalence of hepatitis infections left individuals’ health records accessible, compromising the names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and intimate health records of thousands of people receiving medical care in Philadelphia.

The department learned of the breach Friday when an Inquirer reporter discovered the data and notified the department. It was not clear how long the information was exposed. The data were taken down minutes after the department was notified.