DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

Burglary at Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County compromises clients' personal and medical information

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Dissent

Lawyers are supposed to protect clients’ information, but it seems the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County played with fire until its clients were burnt. During a burglary of their offices on August 12,  ten of their laptops with clients’ personal information were stolen.

In a letter to those affected,  M. Stacey Hawver, Executive Director, writes:

We believe that your personal information may have been stored on the stolen laptops. The personal information believed to be stored on the stolen laptops includes your name, Social Security number, date of birth, medical and health information.

Although those affected were offered some advice on placing fraud alerts on their credit files and advised to check  insurance Explanation of Benefits forms, they were not offered any free services.

Nor, it seems, were they given any explanation as to why all these laptops weren’t  encrypted. Hawver writes:

 We are sorry that this incident occurred and want to assure you we are carefully reviewing our procedures and practices to minimize the risk of recurrence.

Where was the careful review and security before the incident? And will they now encrypt client files? Don’t legal aid clients have enough problems without their information being put at risk by inadequate security?

A copy of the notification letter with the enclosure can be found on the California Attorney General’s web site.

UPDATE:  HealthITSecurity.com obtained additional information on the organization’s HIPAA status. Read their follow-up here.

No related posts.

Category: Health Data

Post navigation

← Privacy breaches in VA health records wound veterans
Huge Leak Of Documents Leaked For #OpGoldenDawn By #Anonymous →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Russia Jailed Hacker Who Worked for Ukrainian Intelligence to Launch Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure
  • Kentfield Hospital victim of cyberattack by World Leaks, patient data involved
  • India’s Max Financial says hacker accessed customer data from its insurance unit
  • Brazil’s central bank service provider hacked, $140M stolen
  • Iranian and Pro-Regime Cyberattacks Against Americans (2011-Present)
  • Nigerian National Pleads Guilty to International Fraud Scheme that Defrauded Elderly U.S. Victims
  • Nova Scotia Power Data Breach Exposed Information of 280,000 Customers
  • No need to hack when it’s leaking: Brandt Kettwick Defense edition
  • SK Telecom to be fined for late data breach report, ordered to waive cancellation fees, criminal investigation into them launched
  • Louis Vuitton Korea suffers cyberattack as customer data leaked

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • On July 7, Gemini AI will access your WhatsApp and more. Learn how to disable it on Android.
  • German court awards Facebook user €5,000 for data protection violations
  • Record-Breaking $1.55M CCPA Settlement Against Health Information Website Publisher
  • Ninth Circuit Reviews Website Tracking Class Actions and the Reach of California’s Privacy Law
  • US healthcare offshoring: Navigating patient data privacy laws and regulations
  • Data breach reveals Catwatchful ‘stalkerware’ is spying on thousands of phones
  • Google Trackers: What You Can Actually Escape And What You Can’t

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.