ManageMyHealth reveals scope of data breach

ManageMyHealth is expecting to start notifying customers impacted by a data breach within the next 48 hours.

The country's largest patient information portal on Wednesday confirmed it had identified a cyber security incident involving "unauthorised access" to its platform.

Independent international forensic consultants have been engaged to verify the solution and to determine the extent of the data which is affected.

ManageMyHealth believed between 6 and 7 percent of the approximately 1.8 million registered users may have been impacted.

Earlier, chief executive Vino Ramayah assured users, customers and stakeholders that ManageMyHealth takes the protection of health information "extremely seriously".

"We understand how personal and sensitive health information is, and we recognise the stress an incident like this can cause. Our team is working hard to identify those affected, and to communicate directly and transparently," Ramayah said.

Ramayah also stated the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has been notified and is working with ManageMyHealth to meet their obligations under privacy legislation.

The police have also been notified of the breach.

A Health New Zealand spokesperson told RNZ it was working "closely" with the app's operators.

"Health New Zealand is aware of the cyber security incident at ManageMyHealth and is working with them to understand any impacts."