Vendor that mishandled Pa. virus data to pay $2.7M in federal whistleblower case

A large staffing firm that performed COVID-19 contact tracing for Pennsylvania and exposed the private medical information of about 72,000 residents will pay $2.7 million in a settlement with the Justice Department and a company whistleblower, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Employees used unauthorized Google accounts — readily viewable online — to store names, phone numbers, email addresses, COVID-19 exposure status, sexual orientations and other information about residents who had been reached for contact tracing, even though the company’s contract with the state required it to safeguard such data.

The whistleblower — a former Insight Global contractor — complained to company management that residents’ health information was potentially accessible to the public, according to the lawsuit. The company initially ignored her, then, when pressed, told the whistleblower “it was not willing to pay for the necessary computer security systems and instead preferred to use its contract funds to hire large numbers of workers,” the lawsuit said.

“Contractors for the government who do not follow procedures to safeguard individuals’ personal health information will be held accountable,” Maureen R. Dixon, who heads up the inspector general’s office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday in a statement on the settlement, of which the whistleblower is set to receive nearly $500,000.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

Coronavirus Data Pennsylvania-Department-Of-Health Data-Loss

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Vendor that mishandled Pennsylvania virus data to pay $2.7 million in federal whistleblower caseA staffing company that performed COVID-19 contact tracing for Pennsylvania and exposed the private medical information of about 72,000 residents will pay $2.7 million in a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and a whistleblower. Federal prosecutors announced the settlement with Insight Global on Wednesday.
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »

Vendor that mishandled Penn. virus data to pay $2.7M in federal whistleblower caseA staffing company that performed COVID-19 contact tracing for Pennsylvania and exposed the private medical information of about 72,000 residents will pay $2.7 million in a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and a whistleblower
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »

Vendor Management: Top 7 Reasons Why Companies Aren't SecureRende is the founder & CEO of Rhymetec, a cybersecurity firm providing cybersecurity, compliance and data privacy needs to SaaS companies. Read Justin Rende's full executive profile here.
Source: ForbesTech - 🏆 318. / 59 Read more »

Fiesta medal vendor: Cease-and-desist letter from Selena's familyKevin McLaughlin, owner of Fiesta Medals Direct in San Antonio, warns creators after Quintanilla's family threatened to sue in 2017.
Source: ExpressNews - 🏆 519. / 51 Read more »

HISD vendor with Gifted and Talented program ends partnership after months of nonpaymentLeaders at a software company shut down access to their program at Houston Independent School District after the district didn’t renew their contract but kept using the program.
Source: KPRC2 - 🏆 80. / 68 Read more »

Southern California food vendor gets life-changing surpriseAn Oxnard street vendor thinks he's having a photo shoot with a popular influencer, but instead is surprised with a new cart and $5,000 in cash.
Source: CBSLA - 🏆 552. / 51 Read more »