Jennifer Scott reports: The deputy commissioner of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has named and shamed the NHS as the worst offender when it comes to data breaches. During the opening keynote at InfoSecurity Europe 2010, David Smith highlighted the health service’s blunders over the past two years where it accounted for almost a third…
Author: Dissent
TX: CPS worker accused of stealing personal info
…. As an administrative technician [for Child Protective Services, under the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services], Andrea Daniels was entrusted with the paperwork provided by families like the Robinsons who want to adopt or foster children. Daniels is accused of stealing personal information from at least 70 applicants including the Robinsons in exchange…
Army warns reservists of identity theft threat
Martin Evans reports: The Army cannot account for files containing personal data from a regional reserve command based at Fort Totten and is warning some 12,000 area military and civilian personnel they may be vulnerable to identity theft. The records cover reservists from Long Island, New York City and upstate who were assigned to the…
Court Orders Hospital to Provide Patient Records
Tim Hull reports: Federal law gives an Indiana agency that advocates for the mentally ill access to its client’s hospital records, the 7th circuit ruled. The Chicago-based court of appeals, sitting en banc, found that a hospital must give Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services access to patient records under the federal Protection and Advocacy for…
Up to 1.2M Tax Returns May Have Used Stolen IDs
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…
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…