Mark Metherell reports: Doctors will be able to override the wishes of a patient and inform blood relatives – but not the patient’s spouse – of the patient’s genetic disorder where there is a risk to the relative’s health, under guidelines introduced yesterday. The new guidelines, announced by federal health and privacy authorities, which take…
Author: Dissent
Dollar Tree hacked over weekend, business as usual on Monday
Bryan Baker of WRDW in Georgia reports that Dollar Tree in North Augusta was hacked over the weekend: Employees say someone hacked into the store’s computers, potentially exposing sensitive customer information. North Augusta Public Safety says so far there have been no identity theft complaints from Dollar Tree customers. The store agreed, telling News 12…
NY: ID theft gang steals $200,000 in casino cash advances
Dan Herbeck reports: Seven members of an alleged identity theft gang were arraigned in federal court today. The defendants are accused of using information stolen from victims’ credit and bank cards, and then using that information to make their own fake credit cards. They then used the bogus credit cards to withdraw $198,700 from the…
FL man sentenced in GA for Medicaid fraud involving medical ID theft
Often, press releases concerning Medicaid fraud contain elements of medical ID theft, as in this case: Varian V. Scott, 36, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. to federal prison on charges of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The charges arose out…
Patient consent and 'granular' privacy control ties
In Part 2 of a 2-part series, Joseph Conn reports: The online culture is changing, shifting toward affording individuals more control over their personal information, as evidenced by the rollout last week of revisions to the privacy and security policies and technological framework by Facebook, a popular personal media site. Privacy and IT industry experts…
Will embattled state contractor try to get Minnesota Public Radio reporter thrown in jail?
David Brauer blogs: With a hat tip to MPR’s own Bob Collins, a state contractor on the sharp end of public radio reporting seems to be threatening charges against the journalists who exposed security breaches in a job-seeker database. MPR reporter Sasha Aslanian busted Texas-based Lookout Services Dec. 11 for leaving 500 names, dates of birth…