Cara Baruzzi reports: Health Net will pay the state at least $250,000 and implement stronger consumer protections to settle allegations the insurer failed to secure medical records, financial information and other private data on more than 440,000 Connecticut members, state officials said Tuesday. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who sued the company in the wake of…
Author: Dissent
UF officials notify patients of privacy breach
University of Florida officials have notified 2,047 people that their Social Security or Medicaid identification numbers were included on address labels affixed to letters inviting them to participate in a research study. The letters were sent through the U.S. Postal Service on May 24, and the information also was shared with a telephone survey company….
Attorney General Reaches Settlement Over Lost Hard Drive With Medical Information On 1.5 Million Health Net Customers
Matthew Sturdevant reports: Health Net of the Northeast will be required to pay a “significant sum and spend even more to upgrade security” because of a hard-drive lost last year that contained medical information of 1.5 million Health Net customers in four states — including 446,000 in Connecticut, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s office said Tuesday….
R.I. ACLU sues state over rules governing medical records
Felice J. Freyer reports: A suit filed [last] Tuesday alleges that newly adopted regulations fail to adequately protect patient privacy under the state’s developing system for exchanging electronic medical records. The suit by the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union says that regulations developed by the state Department of Health are full…
FL: Citizens Property Insurance didn’t get its mail, warns of fraud
Jeff Harrington reports: Someone filled out a change-of-address form for Citizens Property Insurance. But it wasn’t Citizens. Now the state-run insurer is warning policyholders that mail sent to its headquarters in late June, including payment checks, may have been fraudulently misdirected to a Hialeah apartment. The insurer of last resort, which has more than 1…
Information Security: Governmentwide Guidance Needed to Assist Agencies in Implementing Cloud Computing
From Information Security: Governmentwide Guidance Needed to Assist Agencies in Implementing Cloud Computing GAO-10-855T (pdf), July 1, 2010 Summary Cloud computing, an emerging form of computing where users have access to scalable, on-demand capabilities that are provided through Internet-based technologies, reportedly has the potential to provide information technology services more quickly and at a lower…