Every time I try to explain the current state of data privacy in this Country, people typically react that it is not something to worry about. Private Companies and Government Agencies are amassing huge amounts of information on individuals. With each passing day there is more and more risk of misuse.
Every now and again, new Law passed by Congress creates a whole new industry to comply. The recent Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a good example of this. More to the point, a couple of years ago a law called HIPPA passed. HIPPA in a nutshell is a series of rules that regulate how patent Medical records can be kept, and different safeguards that must be in place. When you think about it Doctor Patient privilege is one of the most sacred things in the United States. What you tell your Doctor stays with your Doctor. HIPPA was designed to help enforce that as more and more records became computerized, making way for more risk of misuse.
Recently the San Francisco Chronicle �>reported:
A woman in Pakistan doing cut-rate clerical work for UCSF Medical Center threatened to post patients’ confidential files on the Internet unless she was paid more money. To show she was serious, the woman sent UCSF an e-mail earlier this month with actual patients’ records attached.
The violation of medical privacy – apparently the first of its kind – highlights the danger of “offshoring” work that involves sensitive materials, an increasing trend among budget-conscious U.S. companies and institutions.
Yes that�s right, that confidential information we hold so dear, might just end up in a different country, or on the Internet for all to see. What’s striking is that the Hospital had no idea that their sub-contractors had sub-contractors, in some cases this was four levels deep.
This really strikes to a deeper point. As more and more Companies outsource their business functions to save money a whole new realm of risk opens up.
I will write more on this later� but something tells me that we are going to be seeing many more stories like this in the future.