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Personal medical information might have been exposed on Chicago Department of Public Health dashboard

Personal data might have been exposed on Chicago Department of Public Health dashboard
Personal data might have been exposed on Chicago Department of Public Health dashboard 00:23

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some people might have had their names and medical information exposed on a Chicago Department of Public Health online dashboard last fall, city officials said.

On Oct. 8, 2024, the department learned about an "inadvertent potential disclosure of sensitive information used to generate statistics related to public health and safety," CDPH officials said in a notice posted on its website on Tuesday.

After conducting an investigation, the department determined that some people's names and medical information might have been exposed "when visiting a dashboard showing statistical information if the visitor took certain steps when viewing the dashboard."

The department did not reveal how many people's information was exposed, or if the dashboard was part of their public website or an internal system.

Officials said they are unaware of any actual or attempted misuse of the information that was exposed, but the department has reviewed its policies and procedures to reduce the risk of a similar incident in the future, and has disabled all public access to the data.

The department also is offering 12 months of free access to credit monitoring services to anyone affected by the data incident.

Anyone who has questions about the incident or might have been affected by the data exposure can enroll in credit monitoring by calling the CDPH help line at 877-741-1109.

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