Another snooping case: An Illinois woman pleaded guilty today to illegally accessing numerous confidential student loan files, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced. Charlotte M. Robinson, 46, of Dolton, Ill., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan E. Cox in the Northern District of Illinois to a one-count criminal information…
Author: Dissent
Starbucks May Be Aren’t Liable for Workers’ ID Theft Risk (updated)
Tim Hull reports the latest on a lawsuit that stemmed from a case involving a stolen laptop in 2008: Starbucks employees whose personal information was stolen with a company laptop can sue the coffee kahuna for negligence, the 9th Circuit ruled Tuesday. About 97,000 current and former Starbucks employees were exposed to identity theft in…
Colorado’s state computer systems fail “hacker” test in cyber-security audit
Tim Hoover reports that the state’s cybersecurity is not in good shape and that personal information is at “high risk. You can read his report in the Denver Post. While the news may not be good, kudos are due for hiring a firm to try to hack into the state’s systems to determine just how…
Vermont Urges Supreme Court to Overturn Second Circuit's Medical Privacy Decision
From EPIC.org, an update on a case that has been covered on this blog previously (most recently in this entry): The State of Vermont has petitioned the Supreme Court to review a Court of Appeals decision striking down the state’s prescription confidentiality law. The law regulates data mining companies that sell or use doctors’ prescribing records…
Alaska judge upholds parental notification abortion law
Jaclyn Belczyk of JURIST brings us the bad news: An Alaskan Superior Court judge on Monday refused to block a law requiring parental notification for women under the age of 18 to have an abortion, allowing the law to take effect Tuesday. Read more on JURIST.
VA: Portsmouth tax service dumps unshredded tax returns in dumpster
Once again, tax returns are found unshredded in a dumpster. This time, WTKR reports that the tax records were prepared by Liberty Tax Service in Portsmouth, Virginia. Martin Thomas, Jr. with the Decker Law Firm says it’s a class 2 misdemeanor under state law which reads, “They may not dispose of, for the purpose of…