The notion of confidentiality of adoption records is sorely challenged these days, not only by DNA testing but also by data breaches.
A Wired magazine article reported that Gladney Center for Adoption’s “Data Exposure Revealed Information About Children and Parents.“
In late June, Jeremiah Fowler, a data-breach hunter, “came across a publicly accessible database on line that seemed to contain information about adoption,” identified it as Gladney, and notified them. Within a couple of days, the site was “silently secured.”
Fowler was, according to Wired, ‘particularly alarmed to see adoption-related data, because the trove included details like the identities of some children’s biological parents, data on individuals’ medical and mental health status, information about interactions with Child Protective Services, and even records referencing court orders. The database also included…identifying information like names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and unique identifiers assigned to children’s cases.” The trove contained more than 1.1 million records and was 2.49 GB, the article states.
Gladney Adoption Center is based in Texas, is over 135 years old, and is licensed in 12 states.
I did not find information about the data breach on their blog or their webpage when I looked at it today.
Gladney’s statement in the Wired article by chief operating officer Lisa Schuessler included this: “…in the case of any determination of sensitive information…we notify all impacted individuals.”
The efforts of adoption agencies and adoption attorneys to keep records secure and confidential are not at all guaranteed to succeed. I don’t know how Gladney handled this breach with adoptees, birth families, and adoptive parents. It sure seems to me to have chilling ramifications, including for private and public agencies of all sizes. The adoption community’s confidence in “Confidentiality” is eroding. Access to information could come in unexpected ways. Adoption agencies and lawyers need to be transparent and proactive about these realities.