Accused former public servant calls on other would-be ‘whistleblowers’
A man accused of stealing large amounts of health data, Barry Young, has made a plea to supporters outside court to “bring out” information that may be protected.
Young, 56, made the comments after appearing briefly in Wellington District Court yesterday, charged with dishonestly accessing databases belonging to his former employer, Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora.
Up to 30 supporters held signs outside the entrance to the courthouse, cheering for Young as he arrived. As he left the dock he announced “freedom” before offering a call to action.
“I urge anyone in the police, anyone in the services who has got access to information that needs to come out, please, please do the right thing and end this.
“I’ve got so much support. But I need more support. So, please, if you know anything, bring it out and let’s end it.”
Personal details of at least 12,000 people, including many Covid-19 vaccinators, were leaked as a result of the data breach.
The vaccinators were now being told their personal information was in a downloadable file on a United States-based blog site, until Health New Zealand took legal action to have it taken down.
Some vaccinated people were also affected by the leak.
Young’s comments come after a former Ministry of Health staffer leaked confidential documents to media revealing Associate Health Minister Casey Costello requested information on freezing excise taxes on tobacco.
The Public Service Commission said it could not comment on what Young had said given his case was before the courts, but referred Stuff to comments made on Thursday in relation to the Ministry of Health former staffer.
“Public servants who use their privileged access to government information to influence political debates undermine trust and confidence in the public service,” deputy Commissioner Heather Baggott said.
Young has previously pleaded not guilty and elected a jury trial. He no longer works for Health New Zealand.
Following his alleged data theft, Young then appeared in videos online with conspiracy theorist and former broadcaster Liz Gunn using a pseudonym where they made claims about vaccine safety and death rates.
The claims have been labelled nonsense by experts in vaccine safety and data, particularly as they failed to factor in age when discussing death rates.
Despite this, his supporters have labelled him a “whistleblower”. Officially, whistleblowing, also known as a protected disclosure, must be done in line with workplace policies for reporting serious wrongdoing and ensures the identity of the employee is not shared.
Health New Zealand chief executive Margie Apa said last week the information had been taken down from the blog site. It would continue to vigourously pursue legal
Barry Young
“I urge anyone in the police, anyone in the services who has got access to information that needs to come out, please, please do the right thing and end this.”
avenues to have the data removed wherever it become aware of unauthorised use or disclosure, she said.
It was working closely with police and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Young’s case was called over to April, after his lawyer, Kevin Preston, told the judge there had been an issue with police providing information.
A USB stick with information had been handed over on Tuesday, “but it’s encrypted and I can’t access it,” Preston told Judge Tania Warburton.
Young was released on bail and will next appear in court on April 23.
Public Service Minister Nicola Willis has been approached for comment.
The deaths of four New Zealanders most likely due to the Covid-19 vaccination have been through robust investigation, vaccine safety experts have said.
In September last year, the coroner concluded 26-year-old Rory Nairn died in 2021 of myocarditis 12 days after receiving his first Covid-19 vaccine, although this was a “diagnosis of exclusion” because there was no test that could find the presence of the vaccine in the tissue.
Willis said that, in general, the unauthorised access, use or leaking of government information was disappointing.
She said such actions had the potential to damage public trust and confidence in the neutrality of the public service.
“Like the public, public servants will have a wide range of views, but the overwhelming majority of them leave their views at home when they come to work.”