OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Oakland County officials said a map containing internal coronavirus (COVID-19) data was mistakenly leaked Tuesday night.
According to officials, the map had COVID-19 positive case information, such as gender, race, age, address and mortality status.
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It did not include names, Social Security numbers or any other health information, officials said. The dashboard and the county map at OakGov.com were also not part of the incident.
The Oakland County Health Division uses the data for public health analysis.
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The map was shared on the WeChat app after it was leaked about 7 p.m. Tuesday. It was secured at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Officials said the map was accidentally marked as public when it was recently uploaded.
Officials said an investigation showed the peak views occurred at 10 p.m. Tuesday and declined by midnight.
The IT Department said a test run appeared to show that fewer than 100 WeChat users accessed the GIS URL, but some of those may be duplicates.
According to officials, no evidence shows that the URl was shared outside of WeChat. It is no longer available in the app.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has been informed of the incident by the Health Division.
“Information security, especially around data critical to Health Division’s analysis during this pandemic, is of vital importance to the IT Department,” said Mike Timm, Oakland County’s director of information technology. “We are taking additional precautions going forward including no longer sharing internal GIS data by link but rather within our own private environment.”