The extent of tax evasion by a number of German citizens with Swiss bank accounts appears to be far wider than originally thought. As the German government prepares to fork out a considerable sum for a CD with information about Germans suspected of dodging taxes, a newspaper reports that tax authorities could recover up to…
Month: February 2010
Heartland Payment Systems and Visa Inc. Announce Acceptance Rate of Over 97 Percent for Data Security Breach Settlement Agreement
From the press release: Financial institutions representing more than 97 percent of eligible Visa-branded credit and debit cards have accepted the Alternative Recovery Offers they received pursuant to the settlement entered into by Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), Heartland Payment Systems® (NYSE: HPY) and Heartland’s sponsoring acquirers last month. This level of acceptance fulfills the 80 percent…
TX: Woman sentenced to 34 years over Irving ISD ID theft
As a follow-up to a case previously covered on this site where Irving ISD employees became victims of ID theft after paper records with their personal information was tossed out, unshredded, the Associated Press now reports that Sharon Denise Seeley pleaded guilty and was sentenced for her role in the scam. Seeley was sentenced to…
Balancing hospital security ‘tricky’
John Andrews writes: Data security is a multi-dimensional job full of variables that sometimes aren’t noticed until it’s too late. And often these unforeseen breaches are completely accidental, caused by an unsuspecting user. For the most part, hospitals have sufficiently guarded their systems against threats from malevolent attackers on the outside. But while sophisticated firewall…
GA Senate Passes Bill Opposing Involuntary Microchips
Sasha S. Horne reports: A bill that prohibits microchips from being involuntarily implanted in humans overwhelmingly passed the State Senate today. The bill would outlaw placing sensors, transmitters or other micro devices under a persons skin without their consent. It is sponsored by Republican State Senator Chip Pearson. “This is simply to try to get…
Editorial: Florida trampled woman's rights
Today’s St. Petersburg Times has an editorial about a case previously covered here. They write: Samantha Burton wanted to make her own decisions about her obstetrical care, but the state of Florida wouldn’t let her. Claiming it was protecting her fetus, the state took away her rights as a patient and a citizen and made…