Health Insurance Company Pays $55,000 to Settle Data Breach
The Vermont attorney general’s office says a Connecticut-based health insurance company has agreed to pay $55,000 to settle a complaint that it failed to inform customers that their personal information had been lost along with an unencrypted computer hard drive, The Associated Press reports.
The complaint and proposed settlement with Health Net Inc. and Health Net of the Northeast Inc. of Shelton, Conn., were both filed last Friday, the state said.
According to AP, the case involved the loss of a portable hard drive containing sensitive health information, Social Security numbers, and financial information of approximately 1.5 million individuals, including 525 Vermonters.
Health Net discovered the drive was missing May 14, 2009, but did not start notifying affected Vermont residents until more than six month later.