Edward Fitzpatrick reports:
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office has issued administrative subpoenas to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and UnitedHealthcare over a data breach that compromised the personal information of 22,000 people.
The subpoenas, or civil investigative demand letters, say the attorney general’s office was notified on Dec. 23 of a “significant information security breach,” which had first been detected on Aug. 5.
And “subsequent information” led the office to conclude “that one or more entities may have departed from industry standard information safeguards in relation to this breach,” and “in contravention of their notices of privacy practices,” the letters say.
Read more at Boston Globe.
This is a breach that really does demand investigation and accountability. How RIPTA wound up with health insurance information from UHC for people who were not employees of RIPTA is something that both need to explain in terms of access control and monitoring. Why those affected were not notified promptly that their information had fallen into the hands of criminals is also something that demands serious consideration.