The California Department of Health Care Services has some explaining to do.
Nearly 50,000 patients who are blind, have Alzheimer’s disease, or suffer some other cognitive disabilities had their Social Security numbers printed on address labels used in a mass mailing and sent by department employees to a mailing contractor. The Los Angeles Times reports that the labels were used on envelopes with letters notifying patients of changes in their benefit-plans.
Patients were informed of the incident days after the mistake on February 1st. So far none have reported becoming victim of identity theft, although the department has urged patients to contact credit report agencies and notify them of the security breach.
Luckily, the numbers were printed without any dashes in-between numbers, so those who come in contact with them might not readily know what the numbers mean.
Source: InfoWeek
