CONSUMER NEWS    RECALLS    COMPLAINT FORM    SCAM ALERTS  


Complain about a product or service

Small Claims Guide | Class Actions | Lemon Law | FAQ | Resources | Newsletters | Spanish
Automotive    Education    Electronics    Family    Finance    Health    Homeowners    Shopping    Travel   
NEWS   Latest |  Archives |  Auto |  Cells, etc. |  Computers |  Financial |  Health |  Homeowners |  Parents |  Privacy |  Scams |  Seniors |  Travel

Kaiser Permanente Laptop Stolen

Personal Data on 38,000 Members Missing





By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 29, 2006

Data Theft
Data Breaches Exceed 2007 Record
Thieves Steal AT&T Laptop with Employee Data
Report: Data Breach Disclosure Laws Don't Affect Identity Theft
Patient Information Exposed in Data Breach at Walter Reed
Supermarket Chain Reports Data Breach
Report: Feds Still Not Doing Enough To Secure Data
Data Thieves Hit Georgetown University Students, Faculty
800,000 Job Seekers At Risk In Gap Data Breach
TJX Data Breach Settlement Has Strings Attached
More ...

More than 38,000 Colorado patients of Kaiser Permanente may be at risk for identity theft, after a laptop containing their personal data was stolen from a Kaiser employee in Oakland, California, the company said.

The theft took place on Oct. 4th, and the missing laptop contained such information as names, ages, gender, and medical record data.

Kaiser spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said that no Social Security numbers were included in the data.

Without explaining how they could read the minds of the thieves, both Montgomery and Kerry Kohnen, Kaiser's vice president of business operations, claimed that the laptop was stolen for its "street value," not for the data contained within it.

The data was part of an "internal health review project," and was password-protected, according to Kohnen. The project centered on two offices in the Colorado area.

Kohnen also admitted that Kaiser employees take their work home with them often, and that the unidentified employee who had the laptop is no longer with the company.

No explanation was provided as to why there were not stronger protections on the laptop, or why it took so long to notify affected patients.

Even without Social Security numbers, the patient information could be used for all manner of fraud, ranging from credit card fraud to medical identity theft.

Kaiser's Keystone Kops

This is not the first time Kaiser patients have been put at risk thanks to a data breach.

In July, another laptop was stolen from Kaiser offices in the Northern California area. This one contained data on 160,000 members who were targeted for hearing aid services marketing.

Then, as now, the company and Oakland police said, without offering any supporting evidence, that the theft was for the laptop, not the data within it, and that it was password-protected.

California's Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) fined Kaiser $200,000 last year for creating a Web site that exposed the personal information of 150 people for nearly four years. The DMHC charged that Kaiser had failed to remove the data until the breach was brought to the attention of federal and state authorities.

Elisa Cooper, a former Webmaster for Kaiser, blew the whistle on the Web site breach by bringing it to the attention of federal regulators.

Cooper was sued by Kaiser for what they called "breach of contract." Cooper claimed that Kaiser was setting her up to take the fall for their own inattention to patients' privacy.

Cooper currently keeps a running tally of mishaps and mismanagement perpetrated by Kaiser on her blog. Commenting on the latest laptop theft, she said "Who knows how many times this happened before the HIPAA-enforcers started obliging Kaiser to come clean?"



Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.


Consumer News

August 29 2008

Recent Recalls & Safety Alerts



FREE CONSUMER NEWSLETTERS

The Daily Consumer
Afternoons M-F

Sign up now!


Consumer News & Alerts
Every Sunday

Sign up now!


Knowledge is free.
Knowledge is power.





Back to the top |

Advertisement


Home | Complaint Form | News | Recalls | FAQ |
Consumer Resources | Small Claims Guide | Lemon Law | Newsletter | Contact Us
Advertise With Us | Testimonials | Newsroom | RSS Feeds |


Terms of Use Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use

Advertisements on this site are placed and controlled by outside advertising networks. ConsumerAffairs.com does not evaluate or endorse the products and services advertised. See the FAQ for more information.

Company Response Welcome If complaints about your company appear on our site, we welcome your response. Please see the Response Form for more information.

For more information, see the FAQ and privacy policy. The information on this Web site is general in nature and is not intended as a substitute for competent legal advice.  ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information herein provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from the use thereof. 

Copyright © 2003-2008 ConsumerAffairs.com Inc.  All Rights Reserved.    The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission.