Data Breaches

One of the nation’s largest providers of blood testing just announced a widespread data breach of financial data, credit card information, Social Security numbers and medical data, and it is certain to be the subject of many lawsuits throughout the country. On June 3, 2019, Quest Diagnostics reported that about 11.9 million patients are affected after an “unauthorized user” apparently gained access in mid-May to its billing collections vendor, American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA). AMCA…

An Illinois appellate court recently ruled that a class action can move forward against Advocate Health and Hospitals Corp., for the theft of millions of patients’ private information including medical issues and social security numbers. Clifford Law Offices is serving as co-lead counsel in the matter against the major health care provider that stored unencrypted data containing the full names, addresses, birth dates, social security numbers, medical histories, medical diagnoses and health insurance information stored…

As the popularity of Uber increases, so does the problems associated with the ride-hailing company. Uber announced (April 12, 2018) that it will be conducting annual background checks on U.S. drivers, instead of just an initial check, as well as hire a company that will regularly monitor criminal arrests in an effort to keep riders safer. According to the website, 49 deaths, 92 assaults and 363 sexual assaults have been attributed to Uber and Lyft…

Clifford Law Offices partner and attorney, Shannon M. McNulty gave legal advice on a variety of questions regarding breaches in data in a recent interview. She advised that if you have been notified that your account has been breached, you should check all of your payment and bank accounts. You should also contact your bank and ask them to re-issue credit or debit cards so the card numbers can be disassociated with your active account….

Target Corp.’s chief information officer who was in charge of the chain’s computer systems resigned Wednesday (March 6, 2014) following the massive data breach over the holiday season to which the retailer recently admitted. It was reported in The Wall Street Journal (“Tech Executive at Target Resigns After Data Breach,” March 6, 2014) that Beth Jacob, the executive in charge of the discounter’s computer systems, is leaving as Target is reported to be working on…

In the wake of The Wall Street Journal reporting that Sally’s Beauty Supply was investigating an attempt at a data breach of its customers (“Sally Beauty Detects Attempt at Data Breach,” March 6, 2014) comes a follow-up story that the company’s CEO sold $16.2 million in stock shortly before the retailer announced the investigation to the public. “Sally Beauty’s CEO Sold Stock” (The Wall Street Journal, March 8-9, 2014) reports how CEO Gary Winterhalter, 61,…

Now comes word that Michaels, the country’s largest arts and crafts store, apparently has experienced a credit card breach of its customers across its more than 1,200 stores. Michaels issued a statement that it “recently learned of possible fraudulent activity on some U.S. payment cards that had been used at Michaels, suggesting that the Company may have experienced a data security attack.” When will this ever come to an end? Retailers are aware that hackers…

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal (“Target Staff Had Warning,” Feb. 15-­16, 2014), it was reported that Target Corp.’s computer security staff, “raised concerns about vulnerabilities in the retailer’s payment card system at least two months before hackers stole,” what turned into some 110 million credit and debit numbers of customers. Apparently memos were distributed last spring by the federal government and private research firms on the “emergence of new types of…

If you shop at any of the retailers implicated in recent data breaches, such as Target, Neiman Marcus and now, possibly, Michaels, you may wonder what you can do to protect your identity. One of the first steps that experts advise is to cancel your old debit or credit cards and obtain new ones. Also, a prudent step would be to change your PIN numbers and passwords for your accounts as soon as you are…