by Tom Ahearn
7/31/2009 12:35:00 PM
In what has to be one of the longest cases of identity theft on record, the Associated Press (AP) recently reported the shocking story of a 66-year-old man who has suffered from identity theft for 35 years – in other words, over half of his life.
According to the AP report, Tom Lesh, 66, of Coos Bay, Oregon, said he has known since the 1970s that his identity was stolen by a friend of his brother and he has spent, in his words, “thousands of hours” over the decades sinc...
[More]
by Tom Ahearn
7/27/2009 11:00:00 AM
With only weeks left in the summer vacation, and another year of school set to begin in the fall, a recent survey finds that college students may be putting their parents at risk when it comes to identity theft.
The Campus Security Survey of 1,000 college students and an equal number of parents – conducted by uni-ball pens and the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) – revealed that less than a quarter (21 percent) of students interviewed were concerned about identity theft,...
[More]
by Tom Ahearn
7/21/2009 12:43:00 PM
Following an investigation into the privacy policies and practices of popular social network Facebook.com by the Canadian government, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has determined that Facebook does not meet Canada's privacy legislation requirements.
According to the recent ruling, Facebook must take greater responsibility for the personal information in its care in order to comply with Canadian privacy law. The investigation identified several areas where Facebook needs to bette...
[More]
by Tom Ahearn
7/16/2009 2:06:00 PM
New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that he has served the social networking site Tagged.com with formal notice that his office intends to sue the company for identity theft, invasion of privacy, and deceptive email marketing practices.
Between April and June of 2009, according to Cuomo’s notice of intent, Tagged sent tens of millions of emails to consumers stating that Tagged members had posted private photos online for their friends to view.
...
[More]
by Tom Ahearn
7/13/2009 4:01:00 PM
According to a story on Wired.com, a new law that went into effect January 1 requiring health care organizations in California to report suspected incidents of unauthorized data breaches of a patient’s personally identifiable health information – both intentional and unintentional – to the California Department of Public Health has led to officials receiving more than 800 reports in the first five months of this year.
The agency was surprised by the large number of...
[More]