Kathie Durbin reports: If you think your prescription drug history is a confidential medical record, think again. Thanks to a loophole in federal privacy laws, it’s legal for pharmacists to share that history with drug company marketers, who can use the information to promote specific drugs directly to consumers. States can plug that loophole by…
IE: Financial details of 1,200 Airtricity customers posted on firm’s website
John Burke reports: The personal and financial details of almost 1,200 customers of green energy firm Airtricity were posted on the company’s website for six weeks, The Sunday Business Post has learned. The Data Protection Commissioner, Billy Hawkes, has launched an investigation into the incident, which occurred in late November but was only accidentally spotted…
NC: Some CFCC students’ credit cards have been exposed
Another payment processor reported a breach this week…. People who paid Cape Fear Community College with a credit or debit card might have had their card numbers exposed, said Camellia Rice, vice president of business services at CFCC. The payment company which processes debit and credit card payments for CFCC announced Wednesday that its system…
UK: 17,000 asylum seekers’ files lost
Rajeev Sayal reports: More than 17,000 files containing the personal details of refugees and their families have been lost by the government, plunging the asylum system into chaos. The names, dates of birth, passport numbers and addresses of people applying to stay in Britain as well as details of their children are believed to be…
Online Credit Card Processor: ‘No Security Breach’
The FBI continues to investigate an international fraud scheme that has affected hundreds of small business accounts. Sellers of products such as Mary Kay cosmetics say thieves wrote checks on their accounts, ranging from $24.95 to $39.99. “I was informed that the $39.95 charge was for a subscription to an adult Web site,” said Julia…
Your E-Health Records (Editorial)
As part of the stimulus package, $20 billion will be pumped into the health care system to accelerate the use of electronic health records. The goal is both to improve the quality and lower the costs of care by replacing cumbersome paper records with electronic records that can be easily stored and swiftly transmitted. The…