Dutch Donor Register Lost External Hard Drives Containing Personal Data of More Than 6.9 Million Donor Registrations
The Dutch Donor Register reported that it lost external hard drives containing personal data of more than 6.9 million donor registrations. The lost hard drives contain personal data of millions of Dutch citizens who have elected to donate their organs by completing a donor registration form. The missing data includes registrations completed between February 1998 to June 2010. The Dutch Minister of Health, Wellness, and Sport said the hard drives stored digital copies of donor forms filed with the Dutch Donor Register. The data was also recorded on paper. The hard drives were last accessed in 2016. It was realized the hard drives and the personal data they contain had gone missing when staff at the Dutch Donor Register went to clear out paper and digital copies of older data.
Hugo De Jonge, Minister for Health, Wellness, and Sport notified the Dutch parliament of the incident on 10 March 2020.
The missing information includes personal details like first name, last name, gender, birthdate, address, choice for organ donations, ID numbers, and a copy of the user’s signature. The donor forms do not include copies of Dutch IDs and other official documents. It was not disclosed if the personal data was encrypted or not. Still identity theft is a concern.
Almost half of the Netherlands 174 million citizens are registered as organ donors. Some of the people on the missing hard drives may be deceased.
What Are the Types of Identity Theft?
After hackers steal your personal information, they may steal money from your bank account, charge purchases using your credit card numbers, open new utility accounts, or receive medical treatment using your health insurance. An identity thief may file a fraudulent tax return to receive a tax refund. A thief might get a driver’s license in your name. You may receive a notice from a company stating that your personal information or payment information was compromised in a data breach? You may discover an online account was hacked when you begin to see charged on your credit card or deductions for your bank account.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the types of identity theft are:
- Credit Card Fraud
- Employment
- Tax-Related Fraud
- Utilities Fraud
- Bank Fraud
- Loan or Lease Fraud
- Government Documents or Benefits Fraud
- Other Identity Theft
Warning Signs of Identity Theft
If you are not using identity theft protection service, then you may want to look into signing up for one. Often identity theft protection can be your first indicator of identity theft of credit card theft. After data breaches, many companies offer limited subscriptions but by the time a data breach is disclosed it may be too late. Warning signs of identity theft include:
- Unexplained withdrawals from your bank account
- You are not receiving your bills in the mail
- You receive bills for utilities or credit cards that you don’t recognize
- Your credit card is declined
- Debt collectors contact you
- Your credit report has new accounts on it or higher credit limits. Learn how you can get a FREE credit report – read this post
- Medical providers you don’t use bill you for services you did not receive
- Your health plan rejects your legitimate medical claim because the records show you’ve reached your benefits limit.
- The IRS notifies you that more than one tax return was filed in your name
- Your income tax return cannot be filed electronically because someone else filed it in your name
- You receive notice that your information was compromised by a data breach
