REED ELSEVIER SUFFERS MAJOR DATA THEFT

Findlaw reports that publisher and data broker Reed Elsevier Group has admitted that up to 10 times as many people as originally thought may have had their profiles stolen from one of its US databases. The company had previously said that intruders may have accessed personal details of 32,000 people via a breach of the LexisNexis-owned legal and business information service Seisint. It now says that figure is closer to 310,000 people. This breach, discovered during internal checking procedures of customers' accounts, is being investigated by US law enforcement authorities. Information accessed included names, addresses, Social Security and driver licence numbers, but not credit history, medical records or financial information, the Anglo-Dutch group said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

Seisint: did the person who thought up the slogan "the knowledge you need"
have customers in mind, or information thieves?

The IPKat feels that electronically-stored personal databases are an accident waiting to happen. They are too tempting a target for hackers and unscrupulous business interests and no amount of legal regulation and good practice will stamp these thefts out completely. But the advantages they confer on those who compile and run them are so great that any legal regime will have to encompass them, with all their faults and risks. Merpel says, "the best thing to do is to have no personal details ..."

Theft of identity here, here and here
Changing identities here