A federal judge on Monday granted final approval to a settlement between Countrywide Financial Corp. and millions of customers left at high risk for identity theft because of a security breach. The breach and terms of the settlement have been previously covered on this site and in PogoWasRight.org’s archives, but the Associated Press story provides…
Author: Dissent
Former Wachovia employee in Atlanta gets prison for bank fraud
Atlanta Business Chronicle provides a follow-up on a case previously covered on this site. A former Wachovia Bank employee from Hampton, Ga., was sentenced Monday to four and half years in federal prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with selling customers’ bank account information and Social Security numbers while employed in…
NZ hacker sentenced to community service and reparations
A Brazilian man who hacked into the reservation system of the backpacker Pinewood Lodge where he had stayed in Queenstown was sentenced to community work and reparations. Schiavini had used his computer to access the wireless network at the hostel, where he was staying, and gained further access to the internal reservation system. He managed…
Banks Siding Against the Customer in Fraud Cases
Naomi Wolf recounts the ugly story of her interactions with WaMu when she reported suspected fraud on her account. … I noticed eventually that checkbooks were missing from my home, and finally my accountant got enough of the records to see an unmistakable pattern of fraud, and called my attention to it. I filed a…
Amendments to Alberta's Health Information Act come into force on September 1, 2010
Recent amendments to Alberta’s Health Information Act, and related regulations, come into force on September 1, 2010. The amendments touch on a range of issues including the applicability of the statute, sharing of electronic health records, the creation of health information repositories and additional investigative powers for the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta. Read…
Tighter Medical Privacy Rules Sought
Robert Pear reports: The Obama administration is rewriting new rules on medical privacy after an outpouring of criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress who say the rules do not adequately protect the rights of patients. Democratic lawmakers and a few Republicans have denounced the rules, saying they fall short of offering patients the…