They served their country but now the card that’s supposed to help veterans may be putting them at risk for identity theft and it’s a problem the Department of Veteran Affairs has known about for at least two years. When the VA first issued new medical cards in 2004, they claimed the cards protected the…
Month: January 2014
Correction and Apology
In a post on an insider breach for tax refund fraud, this site incorrectly questioned whether Apex Laboratory had ever notified patients of the breach. They did notify patients in September 2012, and PHIprivacy.net apologizes for any suggestion that they may not have.
The new world of big health data: some questions about profits, privacy and the public interest
Bruce Baer Arnold and Wendy Bonython write: Are the UK and Israeli health systems heading for a privacy trainwreck? Will Australian policymakers take us down the same track by selling bulk health data? Data contained in health records can be benign, even trivial. However it can also be intimate, important and ineradicable. Add in data…
State Industrial Products employee info found in possession of tax refund fraudsters (Update 1)
idRADAR reports: State Industrial Products (SIP) is notifying employees past and present that their personal information may have fallen into the hands of a criminal ring seeking to grab workers’ income tax refunds. It’s a new data breach that has serious implications because the IRS filing season opens in just 48 hours. The FBI notified SIP…
California Attorney General Files Lawsuit Based on Late Breach Notification
Yesterday, I noted that California’s Attorney General was suing Kaiser over a breach that was discovered in 2011 but not disclosed to those affected until months later. David Navetta of InformationLawGroup has some interesting commentary and analysis of the lawsuit, focusing on the provisions of California law that provide: The disclosure shall be made in…
NC: Three Charged With Operating Online Counterfeit Credit Card Retailer Responsible For Estimated $34.5 In Fraud
Three men who allegedly ran a one-stop online shop selling counterfeit credit cards and holographic overlays, to be used by criminals to make fake identifications, face federal charges in an ongoing investigation that has already resulted in 11 additional arrests, including a customer facing federal charges. U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins for the Western District…