Heartland Payment Systems on Tuesday (Aug. 4) said it spent $32 million this year paying for costs related to the major data breach it disclosed in January, including $22.1 million to cover fines from key payment card brands and a settlement offer. Heartland did not say how the $22.1 million was split between the fines…
Author: Dissent
The Doctor-CIA-Patient privilege?
Can the federal government prevent you from telling your doctor what’s bothering you? Apparently they think they can, even if you are not a federal employee. I was reading a new court opinion (pdf) where the government invoked “state secrets” as a defense. Needless to say, with all the underlying facts not discussed, I have…
Mortgage records found in KS dumpster
Over the weekend, client records from a defunct Wichita mortgage-brokerage firm wound up in the Dumpster outside the Holiday Inn at Kellogg and Rock Road. The owner of the mortgage business said it was an accident and apologized, vowing to make sure the records are properly shredded. […] The records found at the Holiday Inn…
Mozilla shuts Firefox e-store after security breach
Mozilla shuttered its online store late Tuesday after finding out that the firm it hired to run the backend operations of the company’s e-tailing business had suffered a security breach. It was unclear whether the vendor, St. Louis-based GatewayCDI, which bills itself as a “promotional products distributor and incentive company,” notified Mozilla or whether the…
RI police, hospital clash over question of privacy
Local police are livid at Rhode Island Hospital because they say officials there hindered a homicide investigation over the weekend by refusing to provide details of a man’s injuries, citing privacy laws. […] In a statement released Tuesday, the hospital said it was merely following the state’s medical privacy law, which is stricter than the…
Deutsche Bahn spied on employee health records too
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn, still reeling from a spy scandal earlier this year, admitted on Tuesday it had secretly and illegally monitored the health records of some of its employees. “The Deutsche Bahn management has received indications that the group’s security division collected employees’ illness-related information and circulated it within the group,” the firm…