Info on blood donors from 10-12 years ago gone missing

Canadian Blood Services storage boxes that contain information about donors in southern Alberta are missing.

The boxes hold completed donation records including health screening questionnaires for 2,652 people who made or attempted to make whole blood, plasma or platelet donations at Canadian Blood Services donation events in southern Alberta between June 14 and 19, 2006, and between Sept. 4 and 8, 2008.

At the end of April a thirdparty records storage service provider informed Canadian Blood Services that the two boxes were missing. Attempts to find them have been unsuccessful.

Canadian Blood Services says it has no indication of any unauthorized access or misuse of the information but is, as required by law, notifying those impacted, according to a press release.

“We are very sorry that this has happened,” said Dr. Graham Sher, chief executive officer, Canadian Blood Services. “The privacy of our donors is an essential priority. We are notifying the impacted donors as we speak, and have reported the incident to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta and the Government of Alberta.”

Donation records were on paper forms until July 2016. Since then it has been filed electronically.

“Despite the fact that this incident is contained to a limited number of donors in southern Alberta, we feel it is important to acknowledge this incident nationally, given our steadfast commitment to transparency and accountability,” added Dr Sher. “Since Canadian Blood Services began operations almost 20 years ago, we have worked tirelessly to rebuild the trust and confidence of Canadians in the national blood system, and have deliberately chosen to manage this incident in a transparent manner that is reflective of this dedication.”

Additional information is available online or by telephone: 1-888-236-6283 or https://blood.ca/en/content/privacy-incident