Will Greenlee reports: Police on Tuesday turned up medical files containing information that could be used to commit identity theft in a trash bin near University Medical Clinics, a police spokesman said Wednesday. Police determined the files, which contained information including patient names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses, had been discarded from University…
Category: Exposure
Commerce Dept. slow to notify employees of security breach
Joe Davidson reports on a Commerce Dept. breach that involved the transmission of unencrypted PII: Why did it take the Commerce Department so long to notify employees that their personal information, including Social Security numbers, had been let loose on the Internet? On Monday, employees were informed by letters mailed to their homes about “a…
UK: Apology after magistrates’ details sent to prisoners
Jack Doyle reports: The personal details of hundreds of magistrates were placed in the hands of convicted criminals in a data loss blunder, it was revealed today. A directory containing names, telephone numbers and email addresses of magistrates and court legal advisors in Norfolk was sent for printing in a prison workshop manned by inmates….
MO: Envelope glitch gives peek at data
Janese Heavin reports: Rex Cone is always concerned about identity theft. So he was especially worried when he received a tax form from the University of Missouri last week that allowed his Social Security number to be displayed through the envelope’s window. “With all of the public service announcements saying to look out for your…
Mortgage Broker Who Dumped Consumer Records Settles FTC Charges
A mortgage broker who discarded consumers’ personal financial records in a publicly- accessible dumpster paid a $35,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. According to an FTC complaint filed in December 2008, the defendant improperly disposed of about 40 boxes of sensitive consumer records collected by companies he had owned, including tax returns,…
Chase bank seems a bit too loose with clients’ data
David Lazarus writes: West Hills resident Victoria Afonina works as a computer programmer for a major supermarket chain, so she knows probably better than most people how vulnerable her personal information is once it gets out into the open. She routinely tells banks and other financial-service providers that they can’t share her information with other…