Penalty Amount
$100,000
Consumers Affected
6,443
EmblemHealth, Inc. settled with the New Jersey Attorney General over a 2016 data breach where Medicare Health Insurance Claim Numbers (containing Social Security numbers) were improperly disclosed on mailing labels to over 81,000 customers, including 6,443 in New Jersey. The company agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty and implement compliance reforms including ceasing use of HICNs with SSNs, enhancing employee training, and notifying the state of future breaches.
EmblemHealth must pay a $100,000 penalty, discontinue using HICNs that include SSNs for customer identification in mailings, implement formal responsibility transfer and privacy training for employees, and report any future breaches affecting New Jersey customers to the Division of Consumer Affairs for three years.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements and customer-facing documents (e.g., evidence of coverage mailings, privacy notices). Specifically, scrutinize clauses governing data sharing, data minimization, and instructions for third-party vendors to ensure sensitive identifiers like HICNs/SSNs are never included on physical mailings. Review employee training obligations and breach notification protocols to ensure they meet or exceed state requirements (like the NJ Identity Theft Prevention Act) and HIPAA standards. Contracts may need amendments to mandate explicit data field removal instructions for vendors, prohibit the inclusion of full SSNs on any mailed materials, and require immediate state notification for any unauthorized disclosure of health or SSN data.
Entity
EmblemHealth, Inc.
Also known as: EmblemHealth
Industry
Healthcare"health insurance provider EmblemHealth, Inc."
"pay the State a $100,000 civil penalty"
"violated the New Jersey Identity Theft Prevention Act, the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)."
"the label affixed to the mailing improperly included each customer’s HICN, which incorporates the nine digits of the customer’s Social Security number"
$18.0M
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined a bipartisan coalition of 42 attorneys general in announcing a settlement with the bankruptcy trustee for 23andMe, resolving allegations from a 2023 data breach that compromised genetic data of 6.9 million people worldwide, including nearly 150,000 in New Jersey. The settlement provides $18 million to states from available bankruptcy funds, plus enhanced data security and consumer deletion rights for the successor entity, 23andMe Research Institute.
$45.0M
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