The Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Developments in privacy law and writings of a Canadian privacy lawyer, containing information related to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (aka PIPEDA) and other Canadian and international laws.

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The author of this blog, David T.S. Fraser, is a Canadian privacy lawyer who practices with the firm of McInnes Cooper. He is the author of the Physicians' Privacy Manual. He has a national and international practice advising corporations and individuals on matters related to Canadian privacy laws.

For full contact information and a brief bio, please see David's profile.

Please note that I am only able to provide legal advice to clients. I am not able to provide free legal advice. Any unsolicited information sent to David Fraser cannot be considered to be solicitor-client privileged.

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The views expressed herein are solely the author's and should not be attributed to his employer or clients. Any postings on legal issues are provided as a public service, and do not constitute solicitation or provision of legal advice. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained herein or linked to. Nothing herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel.

This web site is presented for informational purposes only. These materials do not constitute legal advice and do not create a solicitor-client relationship between you and David T.S. Fraser. If you are seeking specific advice related to Canadian privacy law or PIPEDA, contact the author, David T.S. Fraser.

Saturday, July 17, 2004

Incident: Intuit warns of credit card risk

From CNET News.com:

Intuit warns of credit card risk CNET News.com:
"Intuit, a provider of financial software and services, is warning 47,000 customers that their credit card data may be at risk after computers were stolen from a company office.
According to a letter sent to customers last week and a notice recently posted on Intuit's Web site, the theft happened in early June at the Omaha, Neb., office of ItsDeductible, a software maker acquired by Intuit last year to be part of its TurboTax tax preparation business.
Thieves broke into the office the weekend of June 11, according to the notice, and took several items, including a PC with password-protected customer data. "

Full text here ...

One thing that I find simply amazing is that the computers contained the personal information, including credit card data, for approximately 47,000 customers who purchased Intuit's "ItsDeductible" products between December 2002 and November 2003. Is there any reason why credit card data should be kept for transactions that took place over a year ago?

This highlights the risk inherent in keeping data longer than you need. Once you have sensitive data, you are responsible for protecting it. If the data has no business value, it is now a liability because of the costs of securing it and, more importantly, the cost of having to deal with it being stolen. It just doesn't make business sense to retain any personal information for any longer than you need it.

Labels: information breaches