From the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network report, Identity Theft Trends, Patterns, and Typologies Reported in Suspicious Activity Reports Filed by Depository Institutions January 1, 2003 – December 31, 2009, the Executive Summary: Identity theft was the sixth most frequently reported characterization of suspicious activity within the period of the study, behind structuring/money laundering, check fraud, mortgage loan fraud,…
Author: Dissent
ID theft: Stuck in the middle with you
Jeff Barker reports: An airman who says she returned home from deployment to find her identity stolen was unsuccessful in getting two agencies to file charges. The woman said she went to her old home in Crestview after getting back from Iraq to pick up her mail, and found a bill from the IRS for $1,307,…
MWeb hacked, users’ details exposed (updated)
Duncan McLeod reports: The accounts of thousands of MWeb broadband customers appear to have been compromised, with their logon and password details apparently published on the Internet by hackers. As many as 2,390 users of MWeb’s business digital subscriber lines have been affected. […] The list, which includes accounts belonging to several prominent businesses, including…
From the frying pan into the fire? When HIPAA and reputation collide
One of the values I find in reading a lot online is that I’ll read something that makes me realize a gap in my own understanding of HIPAA or other issues. In this case, some forum comments and posts made by a doctor raised questions in my mind about whether HIPAA-covered entities fall afoul of…
Ca: Bruyea's lawsuit against feds could be settled out of court, says lawyer
Tim Naumetz reports: The federal government appears ready to settle a $400,000 lawsuit by veterans advocate Sean Bruyea after Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart’s ruling that the Veterans Affairs Department contravened the Privacy Act by circulating his confidential personal information and medical files. Mr. Bruyea’s lawyer would say only that following a lengthy delay in a…
Alberta's sex sterilizations re-examined
From CBC News: Historians, academics and victims gathered at the University of Alberta on Saturday to re-examine the province’s former eugenics policy. In 1928, the Alberta government passed legislation that allowed the province to medically sterilize people deemed to have mental disabilities. Before the Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta was repealed in 1972, more than…