If you’re going to misdirect a fax containing patient info, at least try not to misdirect it to the data protection commissioner’s fax number! Justin Kelly reports: A data breach at Tullamore Hospital is among 212 cases revealed today, the Irish Independent have reported. 212 data protection breaches, where patient’s private information was misused or mishandled,…
Category: Health Data
AU: Optometrists and dentists will know if you’ve had an abortion or mental illness in health record bungle
Gah. Soooo many leaks and breaches are due to default settings that over-share. How hard is it for software to set default settings to NOT share with everyone? C’mon, folks. Sue Dunlevy reports: THE private health records of Australians can be accessed by more than half a million people under the latest bungle with the $2.2…
Leak of diabetic patients’ data highlights risks of giving info to telemarketers
Personal and health information of 918,000 vulnerable seniors was exposed on the Internet for months by a software developer working on a project. No one would have even known about it if the leak hadn’t been found by a guy with “too much time on his hands.” Before you give your personal or health insurance…
Excellus case offers a glimpse into the dark web of private data
Steve Orr of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle has an interesting follow-up to the Excellus incident that was covered on this site in earlier posts. It seems plaintiff-members who are suing Excellus over the incident claim that their information was found up for sale on the dark web. But who’s selling it, and are the…
Eau Claire woman charged with prescription drug ID theft
The Leader-Telegram reports: A 38-year-old Eau Claire woman is accused of using a false identity to obtain prescription drugs. Molly B. Tiry, 5726 Otter Creek Court, Unit 7, has been charged in Eau Claire County Court with identity theft for financial gain and attempted possession of narcotic drugs, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of…
Study: Risk of data breaches at hospitals is greater at larger facilities, teaching hospitals
Patrick Ercolano writes: The risk of data breaches at U.S. hospitals is greater at larger facilities and hospitals that have a major teaching mission, according to a study led by a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. More than 30 hospitals that were part of the study each have experienced data breaches at…