[Dataloss] Breach notification laws: When should companies tell all?

[dano]

At 11:13 AM -0500 3/3/06, lyger wrote:
>MARCH 02, 2006  (COMPUTERWORLD)  - While there appears to be growing
>industry consensus that security breach notification laws have forced
>companies to take more responsibility for the data they own, there is
>little agreement on exactly when companies should be required to notify
>consumers when a data breach occurs.

In some industries there is not only no financial accountability, 
there is deliberate obfuscation which protects the people who make 
off with data. And they know it, which seemingly encourages them. (At 
least in the US.) The following is from the Travel section of the Los 
Angeles Times and describes how easy it is to make off with valuables 
- including laptop computers - in checked luggage. Of course some 
people would not check their laptops, but some would. And since the 
baggage screeners get to x-ray the luggage to see which bags have 
valuables and which don't, their task is made easy for them. I wonder 
how many claims have been filed with TSA for loss; or how easy it 
might be to get those records.


<http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-travelqa5mar05,1,3262996.column?coll=la-travel-headlines>

DESPITE repeated warnings to leave cameras, diamonds and other 
valuables at home when flying, travelers continue to check and lose. 
Here, a recent ripoff that could have been prevented:

Question: In November, my wife and I flew from San Francisco to Los 
Angeles on United. At the ticket kiosk, an agent advised us to check 
our carry-ons because the bins over our last-row seats were filled 
with emergency equipment. We agreed. When we got home, I unpacked my 
bag and discovered that a new $1,800 laptop had disappeared. The 
Transportation Security Agency said it didn't open the luggage. 
United sent a form letter, denying responsibility. Do I have any 
recourse?

STEVE HOUGLAND
Santa Monica


Answer: By the time we spoke to Hougland, he had already filed an 
insurance claim for the missing laptop. But the ripoff and runaround 
could have been avoided if our reader had removed the computer before 
checking his bag.

Many travelers think, incorrectly, that Department of Transportation 
rules cover them for all losses. Not true. Neither the airlines nor 
the TSA is liable for big-ticket items such as electronic equipment. 
United's letter to Hougland explained this.

Even when a carrier is at fault, it routinely denies claims for 
"excluded" items. These exclusions, which include money, jewelry, 
cameras, heirlooms and "irreplaceable documents," are listed online 
in the airlines' contracts of carriage. (Search airline websites for 
"baggage liability" or go to latimes.com/contracts.)

Proving theft is tough because most screening and handling happen out 
of public view. And although surveillance systems have become more 
sophisticated, they're not bulletproof.

"Anyone who works behind the scenes knows the dead spots," said LAX 
spokesman Paul Haney.

Protect your valuables by following these rules of thumb:

*  Don't pack anything you can't afford to lose. Once that bag hits 
the conveyor belt, it's touched by many hands. Almost 90% of claims 
filed with the TSA in 2005 cited theft from checked luggage, said 
spokesman Nico Melendez.

Last year, LAX ranked No. 1 in mishandled bag claims (about 4,000) 
filed with TSA.

Haney says it's due to greater traffic, not more thieves. "We screen 
more bags here [55 million annually] than any other airport in the 
world."

*  File twice - with the airline and the TSA. The agency has been 
known to settle claims even when it's not at fault. If you have no 
hope of getting a refund, it's still a good idea to register your 
gripe because complaints help officials identify and fix recurring 
problems or violations.

*  Only a quarter of complaints filed with TSA are approved for full 
refund; most are settled for an average $110. You can appeal a 
refund, but it takes time. A Southland flier whose cashmere coat was 
snatched at an LAX security checkpoint in 2003 disputed the $261 
award and won, said an aide for Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), 
who assisted in the case. It took more than two years and some 
political muscle, but TSA came through last April with an $850 refund.

*  File police reports. Don't assume TSA routinely turns over 
complaints to local authorities. The onus is on fliers to put 
officials on alert.