February
8, 2008
Dear Editor:
Last week,
the largest private health insurance company in New
Jersey admitted to losing the personal information of
some 300,000 subscribers in what appears to be a theft.
The personal
information of 300,000 of our fellow citizens – people
we represent – was allowed to leave the security of
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey facilities
via the laptop computer of an employee. Apparently the
employee wanted to work on the files of these 300,000
individuals from home. Unfortunately, the computer
containing social security numbers, birth dates, and
other identifiers, was lost or stolen – depending on the
account you read. Full Story
The company
compounded this dubious practice by failing to employ
basic security measures to protect the personal
information of these 300,000 people. I would argue that
the information should have never left a secure
facility, but if it had, it should have been encrypted
to prevent it from falling into the hands of criminals.
Because of
this lax security 300,000 citizens are now at risk of
identity theft.
Horizon is one
of the state’s largest health insurance companies and
the major provider of benefits for public employees,
many of whom are retired and have moved out of state.
It is outrageous that such a security breach should
happen, and its repercussions could certainly cross
state lines.
As a member of
the state Legislature, I sent a letter to the New Jersey
Attorney General and the United States Attorney for New
Jersey asking them to launch investigations into the
loss and/or theft of this information.
I have sent a
letter to my fellow legislators to ask them to consider
bipartisan legislation to address any ramifications that
may result from this loss/theft, as well as the
underlying practices that caused the loss of this
information to prevent it from ever occurring again.
I’m working
on draft legislation that would force Horizon or any
entity that holds this personal information to pick up
any legal costs and to reimburse for damages suffered as
a result of any identity theft crimes stemming from its
negligence.
The need to
require more stringent security is urgent. Horizon lost
the personal information of 10 percent of its subscriber
data base in just this one instance. Across the
country, there were 448 such instances last year – a
huge increase over 2006.
We in the
Legislature represent the people who must now live in
anxiety over this. I know of one family that received
six separate notifications about the danger of identity
theft that they now face – one for mom and dad, and one
for each of their young children. I also know of people
who fell between the cracks and never received
notification that their information was lost.
These kinds of
losses are preventable. It’s time for action to prevent
this from happening again.
Gary R.
Chiusano
Assemblyman
R-Sussex, Morris, Hunterdon
973-726-0954
13 Main
Street, Suite 8
Sparta, New
Jersey 07871
