The many, the compromised
This month it was announced that data belonging to any patients seen since January 1, 1999 either by a University of Miami doctor or on a University of Miami campus was stolen in March 2008. The data is for more than 2.1 million people and includes names, address, social security numbers and health information. All of the blame is being placed on Archive America, the data storage contractor who was in possession of the data when it was stolen.I can only imagine what these people must be thinking. My information was on a laptop stolen from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield earlier this year. Noone is safe these days.
Everyone should be concerned about identity theft. Everyone that has credit or will have credit in the future needs to do everything they can to protect their personal information in an effort to prevent identity theft. Your credit rating can effect many aspects of your life including the ability to get a loan, get a good rate on insurance, own a house, or get a job or promotion. Lifelock is a company that promises to protect the identity of every client. If by some chance they fail to protect your identity they guarantee to pay $1,000,000. Another benefit of Lifelock is that the amount of junk mail you receive will decrease. Lifelock considers junk mail and preapproved credit offers dangerous because they are a leading cause of identity theft. I’ve had my personal information stolen and it’s not a good feeling. Had I been signed up with Lifelock I definitely wouldn’t have worried as much as I’ve been. Have you or anyone you know had their personal information stolen?
