Serious safety deficiencies in organ donation registry

As "Kassensturz" reported yesterday, it is said to be possible at the National Organ Donation Registry of Swisstransplant to make a person an organ donor without his knowledge. As the television report showed, uploaded photos, for example, are not checked. To date, around 130,000 people willing to donate have been entered in the organ donation register.

Register already online again despite deficiencies

The Federal Data Protection Commissioner has now initiated a formal proceeding opens. Swisstransplant took the allegations very seriously, writes the organ donor registry on the website, which was initially taken offline.

On January 18, the foundation reopened the register on the grounds that the register would not otherwise be available to hospitals and that the will of a deceased person would not be known. However, the register is still currently being checked by Edöb. Anyone who has doubts about the register can delete their entry, Swisstransplant writes on its website.

Clarification of facts initiated

The Edöb explained in the TV program, there are alternatives to improve the proof of identification of a person from the register. The data in the register for documentation is particularly sensitive data, the sensitivity of which Edöb Adrian Lobsiger considers particularly worthy of protection.

In the view of Edöb, it was obvious that the disclosure of the reported deficiencies was "likely to affect" public confidence in the system of organ donation in Switzerland, according to a statement at the federal agency. Against this background, the initiated clarification of the facts should contribute to finding data protection-compliant solutions for the processing of the personal data in question.

Sources: Edöb/SRF