Penalty Amount
$39,500,000
Consumers Affected
78,800,000
New Jersey Attorney General announced a multi-state settlement with Anthem, Inc. over a 2015 data breach that exposed personal information of over 78 million Americans, including 1.15 million New Jersey residents. Anthem will pay $39.5 million to participating states and implement enhanced cybersecurity measures.
Anthem agreed to pay $39.5 million in penalties and to implement enhanced cybersecurity and governance provisions to improve data security practices.
In-house legal teams should review all agreements involving personal data handling, including vendor contracts, customer terms of service, data processing agreements, and employee confidentiality agreements. Key clauses to scrutinize are data security requirements, breach notification procedures, data retention schedules, audit rights, and indemnification for data breaches. Based on this settlement, contracts should be updated to include enhanced cybersecurity measures such as mandatory encryption, strict access controls, regular security audits, and clear governance provisions. Ensure breach notification timelines and methods comply with applicable state laws, and add clauses requiring vendors to adhere to specific security frameworks and provide immediate notification of security incidents.
Entity
Anthem, Inc.
Also known as: Anthem
Industry
HealthcareOfficial Press Release
https://www.njoag.gov/ag-grewal-nj-resolves-anthem-data-breach-investigation-for-over-500000-and-policy-changes-at-the-health-insurance-company/
Anthem Final Assurance New Jersey
https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases20/Anthem-Final-Assurance-New-Jersey.pdf
New Jersey Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.njoag.gov/about/divisions-and-offices/division-of-consumer-affairs/
"Anthem, Inc."
"$39.5 million"
"massive data breach"
$8.7M
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced an $8.69 million settlement with health insurer Anthem, Inc. resolving allegations that the company violated state and federal privacy laws by failing to protect patient personal data in a 2014 data breach. The breach, announced in 2015, exposed personal information of 78 million consumers nationwide, including 13.5 million Californians, due to Anthem’s inadequate information security practices. The settlement includes injunctive terms requiring Anthem to overhaul its information security program to address vulnerabilities that enabled the breach.
$18.0M
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