Johannesburg – The Health Professions Council of South Africa expressed alarm on Wednesday at the media’s “violation” of patient confidentiality. “We have noted, with horror and dismay, media articles indicating that the press are in possession of confidential medical reports violating patient confidentiality,” HPCSA registrar Boyce Mkhize said in a statement. This was not only…
Bits ‘n Pieces
In the justice system: Thomas Alan Thompson, a preacher at Calvary Baptist Church, was arrested and charged with identity theft after allegedly praying preying upon his congregation. More. Janice Washington, a Registry of Motor Vehicles employee working at the Braintree branch was arrested on March 19 on federal identity theft charges for selling genuine birth…
Ohio personnel files found in auctioned file cabinets
The Associated Press reports that someone who purchased file cabinets at a state surplus auction discovered that Ohio personnel files containing Social Security numbers, medical histories, and salaries of five former state employees were still in the cabinet. According to man, when he contacted the Ohio Department of Administrative Services about the situation, first they…
Three processors breached, all claim to have been compliant (update 1)
Jaikumar Vijayan of Computerworld reports that merchants using Heartland Payment Systems and RBS WorldPay do not need to worry about fines or their own liability if they continue to use the payment processors. An analysis by Avivah Litan of Gartner, Inc. that is based on a statement by Visa provides additional clarification. For its part,…
FL: Personal information papers found in dumpster
Suncoast News reports that “reams” of personal information, including employment applications, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers, have been found carelessly dumped in a Sarasota dumpster by someone from Westaff Employment, a company that appears to be closed. I expect we will see even more of such reports as small businesses (or large ones) go…
Bits ‘n Pieces
In the justice system: Following up on a story here: former State Department employee Dwayne F. Cross was sentenced to 12 months of probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service for illegally accessing more than 150 confidential passport application files. More. Identity theft to obtain medical services is not new, but now…