[Dataloss] Kaiser Permanente Joins Lost Laptop Crowd: 160, 000 at Risk

[lyger]

Courtesy Fergies Tech Blog:  http://fergdawg.blogspot.com

http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/index.blog?entry_id=1529043

Kaiser Permanente mailed letters this week to 160,000 of its Northern
California-based HMO subscribers, informing them that a laptop
containing their personal information, including their phone numbers
and Kaiser numbers, had been stolen.

The data was being used to market Hearing Aid Services to 160,000
Health Plan members in Northern California, though the person who
tipped Wired News to the story has no history of hearing problems.

No social security numbers were on the laptop, which was stolen
sometime in late June from a "secure office" in the Permanente Medical
Group Business Development Group, according to a Kaiser spokeswoman and
a member represent answering a toll free number for Kaiser members.

The letter suggested that the risk may be limited, as the laptop
required a user name and password, but made no mention of encryption.

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