June 14th is World Blood Donor Day. We celebrate World Blood Donor Day to raise awareness on the importance of blood donations and its life-saving contribution to Society. The aim is to promote voluntary, regular, and safe blood donations, to ensure a sufficient supply of blood and blood products for those in need. Persons aged 17 to 65 years old, that are healthy and do not suffer from a chronic disease, can become regular donors. Regular blood donations have been proven beneficial for psychosomatic health. Donors can save up to three lives by spending 10-15 minutes donating a blood unit! With the ageing of the world population, and the advance of cancer and other chronic debilitating diseases, there is a considerable blood shortage that must be addressed.
One of the main concerns during the blood donation process is donor safety. Preserving blood donor safety is necessary, first and foremost to ensure the health of the donor, to preserve the integrity of the donated blood, and to maintain a positive donation experience. From the medical perspective, donor safety is safeguarded via several steps, such as pre-donation screening, medical evaluation and questioning from qualified medical professionals, State-of-the-Art aseptic techniques from well-trained personnel, post-donation care, quality assurance measures, and continuous monitoring processes, combined with constant education of donors.
SPHYNX Technology Solutions recognises the importance of blood donation and promotes the safety of blood donors in context of data privacy. Typically, blood donation requires a national database where sensitive personal data is stored and processed. However, despite security precautions, data breaches due to human error or malware, are a constant threat [1,2]. The SPHYNX Security and Privacy Assurance Suite (SPHYNX SPA Suite) is an integrated suite of tools that provides comprehensive cyber security risk detection and management for enterprise systems.
- Donate Blood.com.au data breach. (Australian Red Blood Cross Service) Investigation Report 2017 available at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/2839/donateblood-com-au-data-breach-australian-red-cross-blood-service.pdf
- https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/800000-blood-donors-personal-data-accessed-illegally-and-possibly-stolen-police
