An estimated 1.2 million tax returns filed in 2007 reported wages earned by taxpayers who used another taxpayer’s Social Security number, according to a new government report. Many tax returns are filed by individuals who have used another person’s name and Social Security number at work, but then filed federal tax returns using their own…
Author: Dissent
NY: Patient files found dumped in Monticello
Leonard Sparks reports: Officials have seized hundreds, perhaps thousands, of files containing Social Security numbers and other private patient information found dumped outside the shuttered office of DRC Physical Therapy Plus. The manila folders, dating back to at least 1998, include information sheets showing the names, addresses and birth dates of patients and, in some…
Knesset OKs change to privacy law for subsidization of meds for survivors
The Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Monday approved an amendment to the Protection of Privacy Law meant to ease the subsidization of medication for Holocaust survivors. The amendment enables the survivors’ names to be transferred to HMOs without compromising their privacy. Read more on Ynetnews.com.
Professor emails private student records by accident
Mike LaCount reports: On April 8, students in the UW-Milwaukee Geography department received an e-mail containing personal information of former UWM students, but the message was removed before most of the recipients opened it. Judith Kenny, associate professor and undergraduate program chair for the department of geography, sent an e-mail to 97 students in the…
Security fears as HSBC forgets to BCC
Ben Flanagan reports: Some of HSBC Middle East’s wealthiest customers have complained that their privacy has been compromised after the bank sent a mass mailout to its ‘Premier’ customers – whom are required to maintain a minimum balance or investment of AED350,000 ($95,300) – with customers’ email addresses visible in the ‘To’ field. The customer…
Data Redaction: You’re Doing it Wrong
John Bambenek writes: PDF files are a common way to distribute documents on the Internet and even are used for distributing documents with redacted (removed) content. However, when you distribute redacted documents make sure that the data you don’t want out there isn’t, in fact, still in the file. Case in point, take the upcoming…