PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

The Government’s Data Security Breach and “Data Neutralization”

Digital Person Privacy

The AP reports an enormous breach of data security by the government: Thieves took sensitive personal information on 26.5 million U.S. veterans, including Social Security numbers and birth dates, after a Veterans Affairs employee improperly brought the material home, the government said Monday. The information involved mainly those veterans who served and have been discharged since 1975, […]

ChoicePoint: More Than 145,000 Victims?

ChoicePoint Data Breach

ChoicePoint just won’t be outdone. They were, after all, the company that started all the extensive attention on data security breaches. Back in February 2005, ChoicePoint announced that it had improperly sold personal data on about 145,000 people to identity thieves. Pursuant to a California data security breach notice law, ChoicePoint notified the affected individuals […]

Identity Theft Fears and Online Shopping

Your Evil Twin Beyond the Idenitity Theft Epidemic

From a recent survey: Nearly half of U.S. voters say they don’t shop online because they fear identity thieves may capture their bank-account information, according to a survey released on Wednesday by a technology-industry trade group. These fears are heightened because of the rash of security breaches in recent months.   I previously posted about these breaches here and here.

Data Leaks: Déjà Vu All Over Again

Data Breach

Déjà vu.  All over again.  And again.  Yet another data security break, as if the scores of breaches announced earlier weren’t already enough.  A short while ago, I posted about a tally of the security breaches indicating that the personal data of over 5 million people had been leaked or improperly accessed.  Now this, from the AP [link […]

Information Privacy and the States

Privacy Law and the States

There’s been a ton of media exposure about security breaches at major companies.   Most recently, Time Warner admitted it lost data on 600,000 current and former employees.  Bank of America Lost data on over 1 million people.  ChoicePoint sold personal information on about 145,000 people to identity thieves.  And Lexis Nexis had data on about 310,000 people improperly […]