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Posts Tagged ‘Federal Trade Commission’

Around 1000 patients of Lexington Clinic lose data because of Laptop theft

January 31st, 2012

Seal of the United States Federal Trade Commis...

The Federal State Commission issues data protection guidelines. Lexington Clinic suffers data breach

We have mentioned this before and are reiterating – Medical data is very very vulnerable. Most data breach and laptop stealing cases are related to Medical data. We have covered so many posts related to medical data breach that they have almost become a routine now! It is as if Medical data simply cannot be secured. Is the data security world listening? It is so very important to protect data, especially patient data.

Breaking news: Today’s post highlights the vulnerability of medical data breach and laptop thefts.

Lexington Clinic Laptop Theft

According to the Lexington clinic the laptop was atolen last month from the neurology department in the Saint Joseph office park on Harrodsburg Road.

The clinic further adds that the laptop contained patients’ names and some medical information. Fortunately it did not contain Social Security, credit card, or bank account numbers. A total of 1,018 patients lost their private data.

Letters are being sent to the affected parties.

The moment Lexington Clinic found out about the theft, it informed the police and all door locks to the neurology department were urgently changed. Lexington Clinic is currently working with the St. Joseph security officials to ascertain the security of offices located in the St. Joseph Office Park.

Note for Lexington Clinic patients – In case you have been or currently are a patient of the Lexington Clinic Neurology Department, and if you have not received a letter about this theft then it is safe to assume that your data was not on the stolen laptop. So far there is no proof that any of the stolen data has been misused.

The Federal Trade Commission is requesting everyone to take steps to protect information:

Beware of signs of identity theft, such as:

• Bank Accounts you didn’t open and debts on your accounts that you are not aware of

• Wrong information on your credit reports, including accounts and personal information, such as your Social Security number, address(es), name or initials and employers.

• In case you do not receive your bills on time, follow-up with your creditors.

• Receiving credit cards that you didn’t apply for.

• Being denied credit or being offered less favorable credit terms. If it is too good, then it is not true

• Receiving calls or letters from debt collectors or businesses about merchandise or services you didn’t buy.

About Lexington Clinic – It is Central Kentucky’s oldest and largest group practice, with more than 200 providers offering primary and specialty care services. Founded in 1920, Lexington Clinic offers more than 30 specialties and operates offices in more than 25 locations throughout Central and Eastern Kentucky.

Source: LexingtonClinic.com

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Posted in Computer security, Data Protection, computer security software, data breach, data encryption, laptop theft

Tags: Central Kentucky data breach data security Federal Trade Commission Information Commissioners Office Information privacy laptop Medicine Personally identifiable information Saint Joseph Social Security number Theft

The European Union to revamp data-protection rules that will control information flow

January 24th, 2012

Europe has been struggling for stricter data breach laws for a long time. The recent data thefts have pushed the EU to make tough rules as regards data breaches and data security. This certainly is the need of the hour, not only in Europe but all over the world as data breaches are on the rise and hackers are taking advantage of the loopholes in the system.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding talks about introducing new data protection regulations

The European Union is in the process of proposing new regulations regarding how companies use the personal information of Internet users this week. The new regulations are going to have a major impact on companies like Google and Facebook. This is going to put stricter limits on how they use the information of the people that use their services. According to Viciane Reading, vice president of the European Commission, a branch of the EU, these new regulations are absolutely required to protect personal data of the users and rebuild a sense of confidence in them.

The current state of security laws in Europe:

At present there are conflicting laws from various countries that form the Union. These laws force the companies to collect data on consumers from the Internet. Companies who do not follow any regulations are becoming a victiom of data breach and are always at loggerheads with the governments. For e.g. Facebook, has been in the limelight as it was targeted by both U.S. and European regulators for the wayt they use user data. The company underwent 20 years of independent audits after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission proved that the company’s use of customer information was illegal.

What data privacy means for consumers?

Privacy is a major concern for today’s insurance industry. The more transactions we carry out online, the more we stand to risk of becoming a target of cyber crime. Data Breaches puts information of millions of consumers at risk and that means monetary losses for companies and insurance groups.

What will the new rules exactly do?

The new rules will make it compulsory for financial services firms and credit card processors to report incidents of lost or stolen data within 24 hours of a breach. These rules are set to come into effect today. The companies must, as per new rules, appoint a data protection officer to preside over the protection of personal data stored and processed by individual businesses.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding’s comment

“I want to explicitly clarify that people shall have the right – and not only the ‘possibility’ – to withdraw their consent to the processing of the personal data they have given out themselves,” says Reding. “If an individual no longer wants his personal data to be processed or stored by a data controller, and if there is no legitimate reason for keeping it, the data should be removed from their system.” ”Companies that suffer a data leak must inform the data protection authorities and the individuals concerned, and they must do so without undue delay,” adds Reding. “As a general rule, without undue delay means for me ‘within 24 hours’.”

Data security with Alertsec

Following the essential guidelines is very necessary for data security in any organization. This news exemplifies the need for data protection applications. In an incident which highlights the need of Data encryption software and recovery software, the threat could have simply been reduced to an insurance matter by a mere investment of $13/month. The information would have been secure with no loss what so ever. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or sensitive data. Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security. There are no short cuts to Data security in any organization. Alertsec offers ervice that includes more than the traditional software licensing model.

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Posted in Computer security, Data Protection, computer security software, data breach, data encryption

Tags: AlertSec Xpress Cryptography data breach data security Encryption European Union Facebook Federal Trade Commission Information privacy Internaut laptop Personal computer Personally identifiable information Theft Viviane Reding

Facebook in trouble over privacy breach

November 3rd, 2011

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Hamburg's Data Protection Authority (DPA) awaits explanation regarding privacy breach

In short

Facebook is in soup because of a new breach of German privacy laws. Apparently it has been using “cookies” to track account holders even after they’ve cancelled their accounts.

The news in detail

According to Johannes Caspar, head of Hamburg’s Data Protection Authority (DPA) has given a detailed report showing how Facebook uses cookies to record browsing behavior. The agency further added that Facebook had no need to leave those cookies some of which have been there for about two years. “Our investigation gave no reason for the setting of cookies,” he said. He further added that Facebook is yet to come up with a good reason for doing this.

This ‘cookies’ issue is not new really. Facebook has been interrogated regarding this before. The Electronic Privacy Information Center and nine more public interest groups sent a letter in late September to the Federal Trade Commission asking them to investigate Facebook’s alleged tracking activity.

The company’s stand has been that even though cookies remain on the computer, they do not store any personal identification. Facebook further adds that these cookies are maintained for security purposes like spamming. This practise also discourages minors from creating an account.

The Data Protection Authority wants to tackle one more problem

Facebook is yet to explain to the DPA about its facial-recognition feature. The feature automatically identifies a person’s friends and suggests their name. As per the users should be made aware and their permission taken before the systems store and study their faces to enable the feature. FB has a Monday deadline to respond to DPA’s query. European Union regulators will be looking into privacy violations in this facial-recognition feature.

Statement made by Facebook

“Facebook does not track users across the web,” it said in a statement. “Instead, we use cookies on social plugins to personalize content (e.g. Show you what your friends liked), to help maintain and improve what we do (e.g. Measure click-through rate), or for safety and security (e.g. Keeping underage kids from trying to signup with a different age).

“No information we receive when you see a social plugins is used to target ads, we delete or anonymise this information within 90 days, and we never sell your information.”

What does FB plan to do next?

Facebook has agreed to give the DPA a technical explanation about the cookies use. Facebook is of the opinion that unless and until the DPA hears out the explanation, conclusions should not be drawn.

Data Security is very important in today’s data vulnerable world. Use Alertsec encryption service

Every organization has to have a data security policy in place. This news emphasizes the need for protecting private data. In an incident which highlights the need of Data encryption software and recovery software, the threat could have simply been reduced to an insurance matter by a mere investment of $13/month. The information would have been secure with no loss what so ever. That is certainly a small price to pay compared to what can happen if you lose confidential or sensitive data. Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing mode.