Consumer advisory | PHRs and privacy — The World Privacy Forum has issued a consumer advisory about the privacy of PHRs to help consumers understand and approach the complex privacy issues PHRs can raise. Consumers need to know that not all PHRs protect privacy in the same way, and some PHR systems can undermine consumer privacy in serious ways that consumers may not be expecting.
Opt-out | Financial privacy — The World Privacy Forum has updated its popular Top Ten Opt Out list to reflect several new change made to the Direct Marketing Association opt outs. In the past, some of the DMA opt-outs, like the Direct Marketing Association’s mailing preference lists, used to cost $1. That fee has now been removed for people opting out online. Please see item #3 on the Opt Out list for the complete update.
Consumer alert update — Monster.com posted a warning on its site stating that all users of Monster.com may have been impacted by the data breach of its systems by hackers. All job seekers need to be aware of potential phishing attacks that are sophisticated and highly targeted, and job seekers with safety considerations need to be aware that their information has likely been compromised. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has announced that the Federal job site USAJobs (which is outsourced to Monster.com) has also been impacted by the breach. The World Privacy Forum has updated its job seeking tips, and its consumer alert.
World Privacy Forum information and materials on medical privacy topics.
Consumer Alert | Internet privacy | Job search safety and privacy — The World Privacy Forum issued a consumer alert today warning about a data breach at Monster.com. Security firms that analyzed the breach have stated the breach impacts hundreds of thousands of job seekers. The immediate information that was stolen included job seekers’ home address, phone numbers, email address, and resume IDs. Some victims may have received further phishing emails. Job seekers who have safety concerns such as law enforcement professionals, victims of domestic violence and other victims of crimes such as stalking — who typically do not make their home addresses or personal phone numbers public — have an immediate need to know if their personal information may be in the hands of criminals. The consumer alert contains tips for victims and links to resources and more information.