The latest in the age of digital security breaches, Health Net recently announced that almost half of a million personal privacy information records have been breached.
Identity theft and internet fraud rank amongst the highest concerns that consumers have in today’s digital world. When doing business with a health insurance company, customers are forced to give up very personal, identifying information that can be used to replicate their identity and put them at serious risk for identity theft.
The Attorney General Richard Blumenthal recently reported that Health Net, a health insurer, not only lost medical records containing vital information, including personal, medical and financial information, but that they also failed to report it to any authorities or customers for over six full months.
Identity Theft Statistics
According to Credit Report.com, identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States. While over 30 million victims have been replicated in the last five years, nine million of those have occurred in just the last two years. Most frightening, it is reported that a perpetrator manages to steal an identity, open an account in someone else’s name, and begins to accumulate debt every 79 seconds.
Who is Affected by Data Security Breach
In the November 28, 2009 article "Another Data Breach" in The Hartford Business Journal Online reported that nearly 446,000 Connecticut residents, which is almost half a million, have been at risk since May of 2009. That means that almost 450,000 consumers of Health Net have had their social security numbers, phone numbers, and health history at large for half of a year.
Identity Theft Protection With Credit Report Monitoring
In situations like Health Net’s irresponsible reporting, it is difficult to master the art of protecting one’s own identity. While privacy acts exist to ensure that no vital information is shared, when information is lost, the result can be catastrophic. When the consumer is not notified for six months or longer, the entire identity theft process can be well under way.
In the absence of stricter accountability rules, one of the very few ways that one can protect their identity is by monitoring it individually. This entails paying a monthly fee to a credit report monitoring service company that will alert a person to unscrupulous activity occurring in one’s credit report, allowing them a chance to take action and report identity theft before too much time has elapsed.
The unfortunate event with identity theft is that the responsibility of repairing the faulty credit still lies in the hands of the victim. Therefore, if someone chooses to purchase identity theft protection with credit report monitoring, shopping around to find the type of coverage that comes with a financial guarantee is best.
Sources:
Hartford Business Journal Online
CreditReport.com
Renee Holmes - Renee Holmes began her writing career when she was invited to join the Young Authors Club in the first grade. From that point on, writing ...
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