[repost] Taxes and Identity Theft: Status of IRS Initiatives to Help Victimized Taxpayers GAO-11-674T, May 25, 2011 Summary: In 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) processed about 137 million individual income tax returns and issued 107 million refunds totaling over $312 billion. The compliance checks it performs before refunds are issued thus could affect millions of…
Author: Dissent
Michaels Stores hit with 2nd suit seeking class-action status [repost]
[repost] Becky Yerak reports: Michaels Stores Inc., which disclosed that its checkout-line PIN pads were tampered with in Illinois and 19 other states, has been hit with two lawsuits seeking class-action status by consumers alleging that the arts and crafts retailer failed to safeguard shoppers’ credit and debit card information and PIN numbers. The latest…
German DPAs Publish Comprehensive FAQs on Statutory Data Breach Notification Requirement [repost]
[repost] The German Data Protection Authorities of Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia have issued a paper containing Frequently Asked Questions about the German statutory data breach notification requirement that went into effect on September 1, 2009. The paper provides detailed information on key questions concerning the procedure for notification as required by Section 42a of the…
SelfCatering.ie hack revealed in report on Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner [repost]
[repost] One of the case studies in the 2010 annual report of the Data Protection Commissioner discussed a breach that I had not seen before: Case study 14: Hacking attack on SelfCatering.ie website A bank made a data security breach notification to my Office in 2009 in relation to the credit cards of 1200 customers…
Honda Data Breach Triggers Lawsuit [repost]
[repost] Mathew J. Schwartz reports: … As with the Sony breach, lawyers for Honda customers filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of affected customers, seeking 200 million Canadian dollars ($206 million). The claim says that the breach exposed customers to “theft of their identity, theft from their bank accounts, and theft from their debit…
(update) Texas office responsible for dumpster breach identified [repost]
[repost] As an update to a dumpster breach reported previously, KTSM in Texas reports that the office responsible for the breach was Tax Matters. Of note, Lindsey Reiser reports that at least one former client of the business was upset that they still had his records: “We had broken our relationship several years ago,” the…