The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued an update to the recent eBenefits portal breach, previously reported here, here, and here. Their statement: As you may be aware, the eBenefits web portal was shut down for a period of time earlier this month, and a limited number of Veterans had some of their private information exposed to other Veterans…
Category: Health Data
California sues Kaiser over data breach
Tish Kraft reports an update to a breach previously reported on this blog: California’s attorney general sued Kaiser for unfair competition related to 20,539 employee Social Security numbers being found on a hard drive sold at a thrift store. Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, on behalf of the people of California, sued Kaiser Foundation Health…
FL: Last of five pleads guilty in medical ID theft tax fraud, but questions about the breach remain
Wayne K. Routon reports: The last of five people accused of tax refund fraud involving identity theft from medical records pleaded guilty Friday for his role in the scheme, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer said. Michael Ali Bryant, Sr., 41, of Lauderdale Lakes, faces up to 12 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled in…
TX: State mental hospitals faulted for patient privacy breaches
Andrea Ball reports: A Big Spring State Hospital employee was fired last week after officials say she walked out of the psychiatric facility with 50 patients’ protected health records. A folder containing 47 pages of personal health information — including names, diagnoses and treatments — was discovered in a public trash bin off campus. It…
CN: Two hospital staff jailed for data theft
Global Times reports that a pharmacist and a buyer employed by Ruijin Hospital in Huangpu District (Shanghai, China) have both been sentenced to a year in jail for selling medication usage data to pharmaceutical companies. According to their report, which was based on coverage on Shanghai Television Station: Wang and Le had been working together…
Alberta's Privacy Commissioner launches privacy breach investigations
From the no-surprise dept., Alberta’s Privacy Commissioner announced an investigation into the Medicentres breach affecting 620,000: Information and Privacy Commissioner Jill Clayton has confirmed that she will launch an investigation into the recently reported Medicentres privacy breach, as well as a broader review of the way privacy breaches are reported in the health sector in this province….