"Kaiser Permanente: Data Breach May Impact 13.4 Million Patients"
Healthcare service provider Kaiser Permanente recently disclosed a data security incident that may impact 13.4 million people in the United States. Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium and one of the largest nonprofit health plans in the U.S. It operates 40 hospitals and 618 medical facilities in California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington. The company said that data of approximately 13.4 million current and former members and patients were leaked to third-party trackers installed on its websites and mobile applications. The company clarified that the data may include IP addresses, names, information that could indicate a member or patient was signed into a Kaiser Permanente account or service, details showing how a member or patient interacted with and navigated through the website and mobile applications, and search terms used in the health encyclopedia. Typically, information collected by online trackers is shared with an extensive network of marketers, advertisers, and data brokers. The company highlights that the data exposed this way does not include usernames, passwords, Social Security Numbers (SSNs), financial account information, or credit card numbers. Kaiser Permanente says the trackers were discovered and removed following a voluntary internal investigation, while additional measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents have been implemented now.
BleepingComputer reports: "Kaiser Permanente: Data Breach May Impact 13.4 Million Patients"