HOSPITAL BEGINS TO NOTIFY 21,000 PATIENTS ABOUT STOLEN LAPTOP
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia notified 21,000 patients that a laptop computer containing their unencrypted personal data including names, birth dates, insurance information and Social Security numbers was stolen from an office at the hospital on June 14, 2010.
The laptop was allegedly password-protected, but the data could be accessed since it was not encrypted as required by the hospital. Jefferson has written letters to each of the patients affected by the data loss and hired Kroll Inc., to conduct an internal investigation and provide identify theft protection.
Jefferson’s president and chief executive, Thomas J. Lewis, urged all the patients who get the letters from him to use the individual id codes and activate the identity theft protection by Kroll. “As upsetting it is for me, I know it is even more upsetting for the
people who have gone through it and I am really sorry that they have to deal with this.”
If you have received a data breach or data loss notification letter from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, or other business, you may be at risk for identity theft. Contact data security attorney Micah Adkins for a free and confidential legal consultation.