Another Day, Another Loss of Hundreds of Thousands of Personal Records

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This time, they're medical records. From Computerworld:

The tapes and disks were taken home by the employee as part of a backup protocol that sent them off-site to protect them against loss from fires or other disasters. That practice, which was only used by the home health care division of the hospital system, has since been stopped, said health system spokesman Gary Walker.
Really, taking the tapes home wasn't that bad of an idea, although he probably should have dropped them off at a cave or something. The real issue is the inevitability that your information will (has!) already travelled from one of the hundreds of databases that already holds it into the hands of someone who can abuse it.

This time, they’re medical records. From Computerworld:

The tapes and disks were taken home by the employee as part of a backup protocol that sent them off-site to protect them against loss from fires or other disasters. That practice, which was only used by the home health care division of the hospital system, has since been stopped, said health system spokesman Gary Walker.

Really, taking the tapes home wasn’t that bad of an idea, although he probably should have dropped them off at a cave or something. The real issue is the inevitability that your information will (has!) already travelled from one of the hundreds of databases that already holds it into the hands of someone who can abuse it.

Would fining companies who do not properly secure customer data help?

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