Over on The Daily Censored, Irene North writes: Medical breaches often get a mention in a local or state paper, but rarely do they make national headlines. Over the past two months, there have been numerous breaches, barely getting a mention, but, when taken as a whole, reveal just how at risk our personal information…
Author: Dissent
OR: State launches inquiry into records breach
Alan Gustafson reports: A state inquiry is under way to determine whether two state agencies broke Oregon law by dumping records with people’s names and Social Security numbers into an open recycling bin. Regulators with the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services are checking for violations of the Oregon Consumer Identity Theft Protection Act,…
NZ Privacy Commissioner annual report finds security gaps
The New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, Marie Schoff, has presented the annual privacy commissioner’s report for the period ending June 2009. The report (pdf) indicates that privacy concerns are on the increase, particularly with respect to businesses and the Internet. From the report, the section on portable storage devices [PSDs] in the government sector: Our survey…
NC: Kids’ Social Security numbers on school postcards
Josh Shaffer reports: The Wake County school system accidentally sent out about 5,000 postcards with students’ Social Security numbers printed on the front, a mistake that angered parents and will cost the district nearly $100,000 to remedy. On Tuesday, Wake schools mailed about 15,000 reminders asking parents to specify if they want to keep their…
Can Electronic Medical Records Be Secured?
Mitch Wagner reports: While electronic medical records promise massive opportunities for patient health benefits and reductions in administrative costs, the privacy and security risks are equally huge. The Obama administration has set an ambitious goal–to get electronic medical records on file for every American by 2014. The administration is offering powerful incentives: $20 billion in…
HSBC exposed sensitive bankruptcy data
Robert McMillan reports: HSBC Bank says a bug in its imaging software inadvertently exposed sensitive data about some of its customers going through bankruptcy proceedings. In notification letters made public Thursday, the bank said it had redacted sensitive information in Chapter 13 bankruptcy proof-of-claim forms that were filed electronically, but that the information turned out…