An article from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) online – “Patient ID Theft Rises” – states that medical identity theft is on the rise and expected to get worse as more people left uninsured after losing jobs in the recession use the coverage of friends, relatives, and even complete strangers to attain health care.

According to the WSJ article, medical identity theft – which occurs when someone uses another person's identity to obtain or make false claims for medical services or goods – is the fastest-growing form of identity theft, and the majority of the fraud is committed using patient information purchased from medical workers.

The WSJ also reports that the largest increases in medical identity theft are in retiree-heavy states such as Arizona, California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Two examples of medical identity theft are cited in the article:

• A clerk at a medical clinic in Florida gave the personal information of over 1,000 Medicare patients and to a relative who then made almost $3 million in false Medicare claims.
• A man in Pennsylvania discovered that his identity was used by another person at five hospitals in order to receive more than $100,000 in medical treatments in his name.

Even more troubling than the financial consequences of unpaid medical bills, medical identity theft can leave the identity theft victim’s medical files riddled with incorrect information concerning blood type, allergic reactions to medicines, and overall medical history, the WSJ reports.

The best approach for consumers in dealing with medical identity theft, according to the nonprofit World Privacy Forum, is to request copies of medical records when going to the doctor in order to have accurate records on hand to rebuild medical files if medical identity theft should strike.

Keeping a close watch on ALL personal information – from medical files to credit reports to criminal records – is a good way for patients, consumers, and jobseekers to ensure that all personal data is up-to-date, accurate, and secure from all forms of identity theft.

MyBackgroundCheck.com is a leading provider of consumer requested “personal” background checks that allow consumers to keep their private information up-to-date, accurate, and safe from identity theft and fraud. To learn how personal background checks can help prevent medical identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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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 better address privacy issues. Some of the suggestions included:

• Clearer Privacy Practices: The investigation found that the information Facebook provides about its privacy practices is often confusing or incomplete. For example, the “account settings” page describes how to deactivate accounts, but not how to delete them, which actually removes personal data from Facebook’s servers.
• More Transparency: The investigation found that Facebook needs to ensure that the social networking site’s nearly 12 million Canadian users have the information they need to make meaningful decisions about how widely they share personal information.
• Safeguards Against Outside Developers: The investigation found that Facebook lacks adequate safeguards to effectively restrict the more than 950,000 outside third-party developers in some 180 countries from accessing profile information.
• Releasing Data From Deactivated Accounts: The investigation also found that Facebook has a policy of indefinitely keeping the personal information of people who have deactivated their accounts, a violation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s private-sector privacy law.  

At the urging of Canadian authorities to ensure that they are in compliance with privacy law and ultimately show themselves as models of privacy, Facebook has agreed to adopt many of the recommendations stemming from the Privacy Commissioner’s investigation and has already simplified its privacy settings after calling them too complex.

MyBackgroundCheck.com – a pioneer in consumer requested background checks – helps consumers control their own personal information with “personal” background checks on themselves. To learn more how personal background checks help protect privacy, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow us on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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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.

However – according to the notice – no such photos existed, the emails were not from friends, and when recipients of these emails tried to view the photos they were tricked into providing the company with access to their personal email contacts, which the company then used to send more promotional emails.

These practices amounted to identity theft and invasion of privacy, Attorney General Cuomo claimed:

"This company stole the address books and identities of millions of people. Consumers had their privacy invaded."

Tagged CEO Greg Tseng denied allegations of identity theft and invasion of privacy in his blog:

"Identify theft and invasion of privacy are very serious allegations and it is not accurate to portray Tagged, or any other social network, in this regard."

In June, Tagged – the 3rd largest social networking site in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world with over 80 million registered members worldwide, according to Tseng – suspended its email marketing campaign, which had sent over 60 million emails to consumers worldwide, in response to user complaints and criticism.

While it appears on the surface that Tagged.com’s actions were only meant to increase traffic and memberships, the lurking dangers of privacy loss and identity theft have led to a closer of inspection of the practices conducted by social networking sites and online businesses with regards to the personally identifying information (PII) of users.

In today’s digital age where almost everyone’s PII is readily available in cyberspace, one thing – invasion of privacy – can quickly lead to another – identity theft.

While most background check companies focus only on employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers "personal" background checks of themselves to keep their personally identifiable information secure and accurate. To learn how personal background checks stop privacy loss and identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

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 health data breach reports it received in such a short period, according to the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), and expects the numbers to increase even more as organizations become more familiar with reporting procedures.

Officials have conducted full investigations on 122 cases so far and confirmed 116 as actual data breaches. Most of the types of data breaches reported so far – which also include complaints from patients – have been unintentional. However, the Journal reports that officials can fine offending organizations or individuals up to $250,000 depending on the nature of the data breach and the extent of the harm it caused.

One such fine occurred after investigators determined that workers at a Los Angeles-based hospital inappropriately accessed the medical records of Nadya Suleman – also known as the “Octomom” – who received extensive publicity after giving birth to octuplets following fertility treatments. Investigators found that the hospital had been negligent in protecting Suleman’s medical record after discovering that an employee had improperly viewed her health data.

In addition, recently deceased actress Farrah Fawcett had also filed a complaint accusing employees in an LA-area hospital of providing information about her to a reporter.

California passed the first data breach notification law (which went into effect in July 2003) that required entities doing business in the state to notify consumers when their personally identifiable information (PII) – such as a name, date of birth, and Social Security or credit card number – was breached. The law helped expose the extent of the data breach problem and prompted other states to follow suit with their own laws.

California’s new medical data breach law, which is unpopular with many health care organizations, is the first in the nation and is being closely watched by other states.

While most background check companies focus on employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers, jobseekers, students, and volunteers the chance to give themselves background checks and keep personal information secure, accurate, and up-to-date. For information about how personal background checks can help you avoid identity theft and privacy loss, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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A recent article from PalmBeachPost.com shows how identity theft can catch up to strong, fast, and talented athletes in all sports – even Tiger Woods.

Back in 1998, someone used the golfing great’s personal information to make more than $50,000 worth of bogus charges. Woods, and the sport of golf, is not alone in being a victim of what could be termed "athlete identity theft."

In baseball, Geoff Jenkins, a former outfielder with the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies, once had someone use his name to open several credit cards and rack up debt. It took Jenkins over a year to clear up his credit and deal with banks that had been defrauded in his name due to identity theft.

In football, an identity thief withdrew $10,000 from the bank account of cornerback Ty Law when he was a member of the New England Patriots, and quarterback Danny Wuerffel was victimized by identity theft when someone opened a credit card in his name while he played for the Green Bay Packers. The latest victim of athlete identity theft, Miami Dolphins rookie cornerback Vontae Davis, is also a football player.

In this case of identity theft, a man stopped for traffic infractions on June 9 in Champaign, Illinois showed police Davis' driver license (Davis' wallet was stolen several months ago while he was a student at the University of Illinois) and drove off a free man.

Soon after, national media reports identified Davis as the man cited in the incident, only Vontae was practicing with the Dolphins over 1,000 miles away in Davie, Florida on June 9. He even sent his brother Vernon – a tight end with the San Francisco 49ers – a text message that joked: "Your brother got arrested in Illinois."

However, identity theft is no laughing matter, for once someone has stolen another person’s identity, the identity theft victim must spend time and money clearing up the financial, criminal, and psychological problems left behind.

Athletes, in particular, are vulnerable to identity theft because details about them – dates of birth, names of family members, schools attended, and salaries – are available in press guides, on the Web, and even during national broadcasts. Also, athletes travel extensively throughout the U.S. and the world while using their financially attractive credit cards and bank accounts.

The crime of athlete identity theft has become so prevalent that major pro leagues are teaming up to produce a video that all players see during their pre-season training camps. Recently, the leagues have talked to their players about limiting the amount of information they share on social networking sites such as Facebook in an effort to curb identity theft.

Even those people who are not superstar pro athletes with millions of dollars at their disposal can become victims of identity theft. According to Javelin Research, identity theft affected nearly 10 million Americans in 2008 – most of them ordinary men and women – at a cost of more than $48 billion.

In sports and in life, sometimes the best defense (against identity theft, in this case) is a good offense. Some athletes – and non-athletes – are hiring services to monitor individual and family credit and bank accounts. But criminal records that are usually reserved only for background checks should also be monitored, since someone who committed identity theft could also commit other crimes in someone else's name.

Since most background check firms only focus on employers and large corporations, where can individuals find a "self background check" to help control personal information, protect privacy, and stop identity theft? Introduced in 2000, MyBackgroundCheck.com was one of the first web-based consumer requested background check services available for individuals. Today, the company helps over a million individuals perform personal background checks on themselves each year to use as jobseekers, students, tenants, volunteers, parents, friends, and consumers.

To learn how personal background checks can prevent identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

Press Release: MyBackgroundCheck.com Launches New Re-Designed Website Offering Personal Background Checks

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