A laptop containing 600 patient records has been stolen from an ambulance service headquarters, police said. Names, addresses and details of treatments are included in the information which is password protected but not encrypted. The laptop was stolen from the Scottish Ambulance Service headquarters in Morningside, Edinburgh, some time between 4.15pm on Tuesday and 7.30am…
Category: Health Data
UPDATE: 1.5 Million Medical Files At Risk In Health Net Data Breach
Matthew Sturvedant reports: A hard drive with seven years of personal and medical information on about 1.5 million Health Net customers, including 446,000 in Connecticut, was lost six months ago and was first reported Wednesday, state and company officials said. The insurance company informed the state attorney general’s office and the Department of Insurance Wednesday…
80,000 Mailers Sent Out With Recipients’ Social Security Numbers In Plain View
Ouch! Postcards sent out by the Universal American Action Network, a subsidiary of Universal American Insurance, had the recipients’ full Social Security Numbers in plain view. There were reportedly 80,000 postcards sent out last Friday to Universal clients around the country who are enrolled in their Medicare Advantage plan. WGAL reports: Universal American told News…
Health Net Loses Information for 450,000 Clients: AG
Health Net, whose motto is “A Better Decision,” may have made a very very bad decision in not informing consumers of a breach involving their protected health information and sensitive personal information. Leanne Gendreau reports: The personal information for almost half a million Connecticut residents could be at risk after a hard drive disappeared from…
NZ: Photos released after death may not be protected by privacy laws
Under U.S. privacy laws, HIPAA protections extend past death. The same does not appear to be true in New Zealand, however, as this report by NZCity suggests: The Privacy Commission is sympathising with the family of 103-year-old Myra Letts who claim her privacy was breached when a photo was taken of her in a rest…
UK: Clinic computer stolen by addict (updated)
Lisa Nightingale reports: A former heroin addict with a criminal record spanning 30 years has apologised for stealing a computer from a GPs’ surgery. David Graham walked out of Flagg Court Primary Care Centre, South Shields, with one of its computers, containing patients’ files, on November 9. The 44-year-old, a former patient at the surgery,…