Fax machines Ontario’s top cause of patient privacy breaches

Despite calls from Canada’s privacy commissioners over three years ago, fax machines remain the leading cause of patient confidentiality breaches in Ontario’s health-care system. Misdirected faxes accounted for 42 per cent of reported unauthorized disclosures in 2024, with total breaches rising seven per cent to 11,970. While the Ontario government and Ministry of Health advance secure digital tools like eConsult and eReferral to eliminate 152 million annual faxes, physicians cite insufficient interoperable infrastructure as a barrier. E-faxes offer improvement, yet experts urge a shift to encrypted email, secure portals, and electronic referrals for long-term privacy protection.