AppleCare Insurance is notifying some insurance applicants that their unencrypted PHI was on a laptop stolen from an agent.
In a letter signed by Michael Blea, VicePresident/General Manager, they explain:
We are writing to let you know about a privacy issue involving some of your personal information. On January 1, 2014, a licensed insurance agent of AppleCare Insurance Services, Inc., doing business as Golden Outlook (AppleCare), had his laptop computer stolen. Some of your personal information was on it. This agent may have worked with you in discussing or helping you enroll in a health plan.
The information that was involved may have included your name, date of birth, Social Security number (usually shown as your Medicare Health Insurance Claim Number), and address. No credit card, financial account, or other information was on the laptop computer.
We deeply regret this incident and any inconvenience or concern that it may cause. Upon discovery, we investigated the matter and reviewed the backed-up contents of the laptop computer’s hard drive to determine what information was contained in it. We have filed a police report. We will also take appropriate employment actions against the agent at issue.
A copy of their notification letter was uploaded to the California Attorney General’s website, where you can read it in its entirety.
Anyone care to bet that the laptop was stolen from the agent’s car, or am I just being jaded again?
Those affected were offered free credit monitoring services through LifeLock, and were given advice as to how to protect themselves.
Parenthetically, I should note that I am very pleased to see more and more notification letters advising people to check their EOBs for unusual services or charges.