The Coalition for Patient Privacy urges the Department of Health and Human Services to revise and repeal the interim final rule (IFR) establishing requirements for notification of breaches of unsecured protected health information. “We are dismayed and disappointed with the IFR, particularly with the inclusion of a ‘harm standard’. HHS went far beyond the intent…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
Stolen laptops biggest danger as extent of UK data losses revealed
Karl Flinders reports: UK CIOs reported 356 data loss incidents last year, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by a software supplier has revealed. The FOI request to the information commissioner’s office by Software AG revealed that within the 356 reported incidents 71 memory sticks and CDs were lost, 127 devices including laptops were stolen…
PING: U.S. DOT Federal Highway Adminstration
Last month, when I discovered that part of a subdomain of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Adminstration was being used for spam, I used FHWA’s on-site feedback form to alert them to the problem. No reply. I called them later in the week and left a courteous voicemail. No reply. I also emailed…
AU: Banks send customers’ personal details overseas
Steve Lewis reports: Angry customers are urging the Federal Government to stop the big banks from sending their personal details to offshore processing centres. A national poll has found 83 per cent want the banks to seek written permission from their customers before sending confidential data to overseas. At least two of the major four…
Group looks at ID theft definitions, research
A new workshop report from the Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP) addresses various facets of how research companies measure identity theft. The report finds that disparities exist in the way that terms are defined in statute versus in practice—terms such as identity theft, identity fraud and data breach. […] Rick Kam,…
Consumer Watchdog Asks HHS to Repeal Rule Allowing Health Care Providers to Decide When Notification of Breached Electronic Medical Records is Necessary
Consumer Watchdog today called on the Health and Human Services Department to repeal a rule that allows health care providers and insurers to decide whether consumers must be notified when the security of their electronic confidential health information has been breached. In a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group…