I'm new as a software dev and I was assigned to implement some changes to an application. When I asked my colleague I was told it didn't exist a test version and said it had to be uploaded to the real application. Hearing this I was eager to see the changes I had made in the application. Because of this, i had to grant myself access to the application and the ability to view personal info and not once did it struck me that I was going viewing a real person. All I was thinking was to see my code in production. I didn't even glance at the data. I'm used to working on mockup data and only care about the changes I do to the software.
Note that I had to access what I used to think was a mockup person otherwise I wouldn't be able to see the changes I had made.
Did I breach HIPAA? What consequences may I face? I'm going to report this accident to my boss but this got me thinking.
This struck my mind sometime after I did the changes.