FEATURE: CYBERSECURITY
Canadian healthcare faces new reality as data sovereignty becomes non-negotiable
Roger Brulotte, CEO, Leaseweb Canada, on data sovereignty as a critical priority as Canadian healthcare providers rethinking how and where patient data is stored.
There was a time not so long ago when many healthcare organizations didn’ t think too hard about where their data was physically stored. The goal was to have systems that were highly available, protected and secure. No easy task to be sure – not then, and not now. However, as long as they had that, they were good.
Not anymore.
Geopolitical tensions, new data laws every few months and a steady drumbeat of privacy breaches continue to make headlines – clearly, we are living in a time of global instability. It’ s no longer safe to assume that your data is protected just because it’ s‘ in the cloud’.
This is especially true for Canadian healthcare providers. Today, you need to know exactly where it is, who has access to it and which laws it falls under.
That’ s what data sovereignty is all about. And for Canadian healthcare, it has shifted from a‘ nice-tohave’ to a non-negotiable.
Why healthcare can’ t afford to look the other way
Healthcare data contains people’ s lives, their histories, diagnoses, treatments, even genetic markers and mental health records. This isn’ t just sensitive. It’ s sacred. The possibility of it falling into the wrong hands and the consequences that would follow ripple far beyond an embarrassing headline or a slap-on-thewrist fine.
When healthcare systems get breached, the damage is personal and permanent. Patient records can be used for identity theft, insurance fraud or even blackmail. Medical histories can follow people for
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