A CD containing information on almost 3 million residents of Georgia, U.S has been reported missing. The data is believed to have been lost in transit.
The CD is said to contain social security numbers, birth dates and addresses of people who were enrolled in Medicaid or PeachCare, a state health insurance program for children, during the four years preceding June 2006.Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a Dallas company that handles claims for the programs, lost the disc.
Says Lisa Marie Shekell, a Department of Community Health representative, dispelling doubts that the CD was stolen: "At this time, we do not have any indication that the information on the disk has been misused".
As consequences of the loss the Georgia Department of Community Health has asked ACS to notify all affected members in writing and supply them with information on credit watch monitoring as well as tips on how to obtain a free credit report.
Since the last two years, more than 150 million personal records have been exposed in dozens of incidents, according to information compiled by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Identity fraud, which includes credit card fraud, bank fraud, as well as phone, and utilities fraud, accounted for 36 percent of the total 674,354 complaints submitted to the Federal Trade Commission and its external data contributors in 2006.
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