On November 14, Virtual Radiologic Professionals (“vRad”) notified the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office that a laptop stolen from an employee’s car on October 14 contained sensitive medical and financial data. It’s a sad tale of pretty good security protocols gone bad due to human error. According to Karen Scott, the Eden Prairie firm’s Privacy…
Category: Health Data
UK: Central Essex Community Services breached Data Protection Act after book with mothers' and babies' information goes missing
Central Essex Community Services was found in breach of the Data Protection Act after the loss of a birth book containing information about the general health of 249 mothers and their babies. According to a press release issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office today, the book – which should have been stored in a locked filing cabinet –…
Laptop stolen from Morris Heights Health Center contained middle school students' health info
The Morris Heights Health Center in New York recently experienced a breach that it reported to HHS. In a notice reproduced on their web site, they explain: Laptop computer stolen from MS 399 / MS 459 Bronx, NY, October 27, 2011– Morris Heights Health Center announced today that a laptop computer which may contain confidential information…
PA: In the aftermath of a flood, a discarded computer leads to a breach notice
Steve Snyder reports in the Lebanon Daily News that Lebanon Internal Medicine Associates, P. C. of Pennsylvania has notified patients of a breach that occurred after a storm resulted in office flooding. The breach involved a computer that was used to support the practice’s on-site lab and had wound up under water following Tropical Storm…
Update to the SAIC/TRICARE breach
From TRICARE: Letters are being mailed from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to affected military clinic and hospital patients regarding a data breach involving personally identifiable and protected health information (PII/PHI). On Sept. 14, 2011, SAIC reported the loss of backup tapes containing electronic health care records used in the military health system (MHS) to…
UK: London's commercial trash contains lots of confidential data
Somewhat self-serving study, but the results are pretty much what I’d expect. In fact, I’m surprised that they didn’t find more: According to a study commissioned by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), Phoenix, many London-area organizations engage in the casual disposal of sensitive personal information. NAID commissioned the study to determine whether organization…