Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced that his office is investigating a data breach linked to a reported theft by Yale Medical School of a laptop computer containing personal health information on as many as 1,000 people. According to a
news release, Blumenthal’s office is investigating the breach's causes and whether state or federal laws have been violated.
"Yale Medical School is cooperating with my office—recognizing that it has a profound responsibility to safeguard sensitive health information and must be accountable to approximately 1,000 individuals whose information may be at risk," Blumenthal said in the release.
"This breach—similar to recent breaches by others—must be a reminder to guardians of sensitive health information about their significant legal and moral obligation to protect privacy."
In July, Health Net, a Woodland Hills, Calif., health plan that does business in Connecticut,
agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit Blumenthal brought after a hard drive containing information of 1.5 million current and former members went missing. Blumenthal is the first state attorney general to use powers to enforce federal privacy and security rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996—authority granted to state attorneys general under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
