From SAY San Diego, this press release:
SAY San Diego (aka Social Advocates for Youth, San Diego) became aware of an incident impacting the security of data relating to certain participants in its Dual Diagnosis youth program, from 2013, and is taking action. Although there is no indication of actual or attempted misuse of participant information, SAY San Diego is notifying participants whose records may have been subject to unauthorized access in a recent incident and providing these participants with information and resources that can be used to better protect against the possibility of identity theft or fraud if they feel it is appropriate to do so.
“We take this incident, and client privacy, very seriously,” Nancy Gannon Hornberger, SAY San Diego’s CEO stated. “We are taking steps to prevent any future data incident, and as always will continue to review and improve our processes, policies, and procedures that address data privacy,” she said.
What Happened
On October 27, 2017, SAY San Diego was notified by the County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency (“HHSA”) that a citizen had returned some paper files to their office that were found in a filing cabinet purchased from a salvage store. The files were reviewed and assessed by SAY San Diego on October 30, 2017, at which time it was confirmed the files related to youth participants in SAY San Diego’s Dual Diagnosis program, from January through June 2013. However, the files from March and April of 2013 were not returned, and have not been recovered to date. Upon learning this information, we launched an investigation to determine what happened, and determined that the files were inadvertently left in a filing cabinet by a SAY San Diego employee when SAY San Diego moved to a different office building.
Information Affected
While we currently have no evidence that the clients’ information was subject to any actual or attempted misuse, SAY San Diego confirmed that the files contained program participants’ names, case numbers, dates and length of service received, locations of service, and provider names. The files did not contain your Social Security number, Driver’s License number, date of birth or financial information.
Notification
SAY San Diego is mailing letters to impacted participants and is providing those participants with Web Watcher services through Kroll. SAY San Diego is also informing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the California Attorney General’s Office about this incident.
Fraud Prevention Tips
SAY San Diego encourages affected individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, and to seek to protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss by regularly reviewing their financial account statements, credit reports, and explanations of benefits for suspicious activity. Anyone with questions regarding how to best protect themselves from potential harm resulting from this incident, including how to receive a free copy of one’s credit report, and place a fraud alert or security freeze on one’s credit file, is encouraged to call 833-214-8738, between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. PT, Monday through Friday, excluding major holidays.
SOURCE: SAY San Diego