Lynn Bonner reports: The state Department of Health and Human Services sent private patient information to adult care homes by unencrypted email last year. The security lapse involved 12,731 Medicaid patients living in adult care homes. On Nov. 30, an employee sent an unencrypted email that included patient names, Medicaid numbers, and the homes where…
Category: Government Sector
Veterans Health Information Possibly Compromised
Dave Kibler reports: Riverbend veterans will soon know if any of their personal information was compromised in a release of information by a former Veteran’s Affair employee in St. Louis. A total of 724 patient’s records were released by the former employee to an employee not involved in the medical care of those veterans. The VA’s…
NHS accused of covering up huge data loss that put thousands at risk
Denis Campbell and Pamela Duncan report: Thousands of patients are feared to have been harmed after the NHS lost more than half a million pieces of confidential medical correspondence, including test results and treatment plans. In one of the biggest losses of sensitive clinical information in the NHS’s 69-year history, more than 500,000 pieces of patient data…
Social Security whistleblower waiting for answers in privacy breach case
M.D. Kittle reports: The investigation into an alleged breach of a Social Security Administration employee’s private records appears to be going nowhere fast, even as another probe found wide-ranging misconduct in a Madison SSA office. The employee, a whistleblower at the SSA’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, told Wisconsin Watchdog that a federal investigation of the alleged records…
St. Paul approves $29K to officer who says cops snooped in her driver’s license data
Mara H. Gottfried reports: The St. Paul City Council agreed Wednesday to pay $29,500 to settle the lawsuit brought by a Minneapolis police officer who accused St. Paul officers of snooping in her personal driver’s license information. Amy Krekelberg’s federal lawsuit initially named officers and employees from more than 40 law enforcement agencies and entities…
Wilders’ security officer detained for suspected data leak
Mike Corder of AP reports: A Dutch security official responsible for protecting anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has been detained on suspicion of leaking classified information, a police spokesman said Wednesday, sparking fears for the safety of the far-right populist lawmaker who for years has lived amid tight security. The extent of the breach and whether…