A major concern by members of the Senate Select Investigative Committee (SSIC), about the TalofaPass system, is the security of personal information and health data of those registered on the system.
Director of the Medicaid State Agency, Sandra King Young, tried her best to allay senators’ concerns that the company which designed the system, DataHouse Consulting Inc., will not use the data for other purposes.
King Young, during a nearly two hour drilling by the SSIC last Monday, explained that the data that people upload on the TalofaPass portal belongs to ASG and the people with the information.
She said, DataHouse does not approve or clear travelers to the territory. This is done by the Department of Health and the Attorney General’s Office.
King Young told the hearing that four people were authorized to override the system and issue approvals, if the agencies with that responsibility fail to do their jobs and travelers are waiting for approval to travel to the territory.
The four are the AG, Director of Health, Director of Homeland Security and herself.
Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean said, he and his wife’s bank accounts were hacked twice and they could have lost $30,000, if it wasn’t for their bank’s alertness. He wondered if the TalofaPass was sharing information and using the data for other means, or even selling it.
Play Audio
Committee Chairman Togiola Tulafono asked the Medicaid Director to name federal laws being violated.
Play Audio
