Residents’ personal data held by North Somerset Council has gone missing after laptops were stolen. It remains unknown whether or not the device on which the confidential details were held was protected. The local authority is yet to encrypt all of its mobile electronic equipment. A total of thirteen council laptops have been stolen over…
Bits ‘n Pieces
In the justice system: Alexis Brooke Faison of Durham was charged with 10 counts of identity theft and using a computer to collect fraudulent information following a month-long investigation by Alamance County and Durham detectives. More. A Wendy’s worker, Demetrish McAllister, has been arrested and charged with keeping and using customers’ debit cards. More. In…
DWP does not keep track of CIS security breaches
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted that it does not keep a running total of security breaches committed on its sensitive Customer Information System (CIS) database, prompting accusations that it is not taking adequate steps to protect personal data from intruders. […] The DWP said it did not know how many security…
Pfizer And Private Access Announce Plans To Develop Online Community To Accelerate Clinical Research
From their press release: Recognizing that patient participation in clinical trials is the key to progress in medical research, Pfizer Inc announced today that it has entered into a collaboration with Private Access, the innovator in privacy-enhanced search technology, to create a new online community aimed at increasing clinical trial awareness and participation. The site…
Administration defends security of health IT
Privacy and security issues are priorities for the administration when it comes to electronic health records, said government officials and members of a health information technology panel this week. “Fundamentally, we recognize that meaningful use [of health IT] unquestionably brings in the privacy and security risks to the provider and to the consumers and that…
Blumenthal Offers ‘Meaningful Use’ Timeframe
The final definition of the “meaningful use†of electronic health records that will be used to determine eligibility for incentive payments under the economic stimulus program will not be available until the middle or end of spring 2010. That’s the prediction of David Blumenthal, M.D., national coordinator for health information technology, who held a press…