From a New York Times editorial: In 2005, ChoicePoint, a data broker, gave access to personal information about more than 140,000 people to criminals posing as businesspeople. Since that widely publicized security breach, many states have passed laws protecting consumer information, but Congress still has not come through. Now, the House is considering a bill…
Author: Dissent
UK: Stolen RAF vice files spark blackmail fear
More details emerge on a breach reported in 2008… David Hencke of Guardian reports: Sensitive files detailing the extra marital affairs, drug taking and use of prostitutes by very senior officers in the RAF have been stolen, raising fears within the Ministry of Defence that personnel could be vulnerable to blackmail. Up to 500 people…
AU: Medical records scattered on Sydney street
From ABC News: New South Wales Police have confirmed that several boxes of sensitive documents containing records from a private nursing home were found on a street in inner Sydney. Police say the boxes of papers were located by a council clean-up crew but a Sydney taxi driver says he stopped to inspect the documents…
Hotmail Mobile back online after privacy glitch
From Silicon Republic: A technical glitch that allowed at least one Vodafone customer to view the private Hotmail account details of another user has been fixed following global downtime for the mobile webmail service. A spokesperson for Vodafone Ireland said the issue was brought to light after a customer contacted the company who subsequently removed…
Maine Requires Breach Notice within Seven Days of Go-Ahead from Law Enforcement
From the Privacy & Information Security Law Blog: On May 19, Maine Governor John Baldacci signed legislation limiting the time that breach notification may be delayed following a determination by law enforcement that providing notice will not compromise a criminal investigation. The provision, which will take effect 90 days after the close of the Legislature’s…
Another processor breached!? (nope – see update 1)
WBZ is reporting that hundreds of bank customers are starting their holiday weekend off without their debit cards after a breach at the bank’s card processor, Metavante, forced the Winthrop Federal Credit Union to deactivate some customers’ MasterCards. At least one case of fraud has already been tentatively linked to the breach. No one was…