Tony Collins reports: An NHS trust at the forefront of work on the £12.7bn NHS IT scheme has called in police after a breach of smartcard security compromised the confidentiality of hundreds of electronic records. Patients in Hull have expressed their dismay that an unauthorised NHS employee has accessed their confidential records; and the local…
Real ID program in deep trouble
Jaikumar Vijayan reports: A decision by lawmakers to slash funding for the unpopular Real ID national driver’s license program has put an already struggling initiative on life support. The U.S. Senate recently approved a $43 billion budget for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the federal government’s 2010 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1….
Taxpayers foot bill for employees being sued by ‘Joe the Plumber’
William Hershey reports: Ohio taxpayers are right in the middle of the civil rights lawsuit that Samuel Joseph — “Joe the Plumber” — Wurzelbacher has filed against three former state employees, charging that they illegally accessed his confidential information through state databases. Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s office is defending former state employees Helen Jones-Kelley,…
TSA nominee questioned over FBI censure
Ed O’Keefe reports: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) questioned President Obama’s nominee to lead the nation’s airport security agency Tuesday about a censure he received from the FBI in 1988. Erroll Southers, who was serving as an FBI special agent at the time of the censure, asked a co-worker’s husband who worked for the San Diego…