A person uses a cell phone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022. An Alberta health-care worker has been sentenced for taking photos of long-term care residents and posting them on social media, including a distorted image of a resident using with a bug-eye filter. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
LAMONT, Alta. – An Alberta health-care worker has been sentenced for taking and sharing photos of long-term care residents, including one that was distorted with a filter.
The Lamont Health Care Centre reported the matter to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, which laid charges last year under the province’s Health Information Act.
The office says Kathryn Starzynski took photos of three residents at the health centre, 60 kilometres east of Edmonton, in August 2019.
It says Starzynski applied a bug-eyes filter to one photo, which makes eyes appear overly large and in some cases cartoonish.
She shared the picture with a colleague and posted two other photos on one of her social media accounts.
Starzynski last week pleaded guilty to knowingly disclosing health information and received a conditional discharge, 12 months probation and 30 hours of community service.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2022.
