The mishandling of contract tracing data by the Pennsylvania Department of Health may be of concern to some. But Bucks County officials say it doesn’t affect residents here, reports Tom Sofield for Levittown Now. 

Insight Global, an Atlanta-based staffing firm, admitted that its employees disregarded data safety protocols. That lapse translated to possible breaches for 72,000 Pennsylvanians. 

On the whole, the possible leaked data do not include financial information or Social Security numbers. Names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, ages and other private details may, however, have become vulnerable. 

Bucks County citizens’ data, however, should be immune from difficulties associated with the lapse. 

“We store all of our own data on the county’s secure network, and don’t outsource the work,” said Bucks County Health Department Director Dr. David Damsker. 

Bucks County is one of six county and four municipal health departments in the state. Its authority is countywide. 

The state health department offers services and resources to counties and provides coverage for areas that don’t have a local health department. 

The state’s contact tracing efforts were focused on areas without local health departments. 

Since the pandemic began, Bucks County has conducted contact tracing for thousands of people who had COVID-19 contacts. Late last year, it scaled down its contact tracing efforts and targeted them on certain types of cases, including at schools and long-term care facilities. 

Insight Global will be notifying people affected by the data breach. It has opened a hotline for questions: 855.535.1787. 

More on this healthcare data breach is at Levittown Now.