The Herts Advertiser is reporting that although West Herts Hospitals Trust was aware that three laptops had been stolen — the first in March 2006, the second in 2007, and the third in February 2008 — it was only last month that the trust learned that they contained personally identifiable patient data. The way the…
Author: Dissent
HK: Privacy push at leak hospitals
Nickkita Lau of The Standard reports: The privacy commission and Hospital Authority have launched a HK$200,000 campaign to protect patients’ details following leaks at public hospitals. The Care for Patients – Protect Their Personal Data campaign is the largest the commission has organized for a specific profession.
UK: HBOS postal error could breach data security law
Maryrose Fison of Citywire reports: HBOS has accidentally sent the details of a number of customers to a consumer who lodged a complaint. The bank sent an elderly customer what appears to be a screen shot from its customer relations department, giving the names of 11 customers and corresponding complaint numbers and dates.
E.U. to Consider More Stringent Reporting of Data Breaches
Kevin O’Brien of The New York Times reports: The European Commission said Tuesday that it would pursue a new law that would require most businesses, agencies and organizations in Europe to notify consumers when they lose sensitive customer data. Viviane Reding, the European telecommunications commissioner, said the commission, the executive arm of the European Union,…
UK: Patient data found on hard drives
From the BBC: Medical records, confidential letters and X-rays of patients in Lanarkshire have been found on second-hand computer hard drives. Two disks bought for a study on data security contained sensitive information from Monklands and Hairmyres hospitals. NHS Lanarkshire said the disks were disposed of in 2006 before it improved its data protection procedures….
WaMu Investments notifying some clients of missing documents
WaMu Investments is notifying 14 people in New Hampshire and an unknown number of residents of other states that personal documents containing their name, account number, address, estimated annual income and estimated net worth are missing. The documents were from 2001 and 2006. Source: letter to NH Attorney General (pdf).