The painful truth: Healthcare data breaches are at an all-time high.

If your healthcare data hasn’t been breached by 2024, you either won’t know it yet or you should consider yourself very lucky.

That’s because 2024 has been a nightmare year for healthcare facilities and patients in America as a whole. 184,111,469 records They are violated. That’s 53% of the 2024 US population.

This staggering figure represents a significant increase over previous years, setting a new and alarming record for healthcare data breaches.

The healthcare sector faces unprecedented challenges in cyber security, with attacks becoming more frequent, sophisticated and damaging than ever before.

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Health check or data leak?

Being hospitalized is stressful enough. It caused more stress 100 million customers of Change HealthcareThe data was exposed following a breach orchestrated by the BlackCat ransomware group. The breach not only exposed sensitive health information, but also caused widespread disruption to the claims process. Patients and providers across the country faced chaos as the breach affected their ability to access and pay for healthcare services.

The second major breach occurred at a Kaiser Foundation health plan, where personal information was accessed by the 13.4 million people are affected.. This breach includes unauthorized access and the use of tracking technologies that transmit user interactions to third parties.

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Your health information gets breached, so what?

You will receive a notification letter, although you know it may take months before it arrives (depending on the victim). Ascension Health Data Breach). The results are real and can be very painful. Medical identity theft directly affects the health and safety of patients. It occurs when criminals use stolen personal health information to obtain medical services or medications under someone else’s name. It can lead to inaccurate medical records that include inaccurate diagnoses, allergies, or treatments.

And, you guessed it, it can also have financial consequences, such as fraudulent claims for patients and bills for services they didn’t receive. Addressing these issues with insurers and healthcare providers takes time and mental fortitude. And maybe you’re in no rush to see your compromised health care provider again. That’s normal. A study has shown that. Up to 54% of patients consider switching providers after a data breach.

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When health information gets into the hands of data brokers

Sensitive health information can easily be combined with personal identifiers from data brokers, creating comprehensive profiles that criminals can exploit. As a reminder, data brokers are companies that specialize in collecting, processing and selling personal data from various sources, including public records, online activities and social media.

They aggregate this information to create detailed user profiles that are sold to marketers, insurance companies and other parties for various purposes. The more detailed the profile, the greater the potential for identity theft and potential discrimination in employment and insurance. Employers can make hiring decisions based on perceived health problems, while insurers can deny coverage or raise premiums.

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The Hidden Costs of Free Apps: Your Personal Information

Wash your hands, remove your data

You can’t prevent a data breach, but you can minimize its effects by reducing your overall digital footprint.

1. Set your social media to private: Restrict access to your personal information And limit what strangers can see about your life and health. Make sure your privacy settings are robust and regularly updated to prevent unauthorized data collection.

2. Remove your personal data from the data brokers databaseBy searching for your name on people search sites and asking to be removed, either individually or using a data removal service. Data removal services automate data downloads and allow you to track exactly where your data has been found and removed, not just on people search sites, public data brokers, but hidden private databases where you can’t see yourself (and these are the worst).

Once your data is removed, data removal services monitor data brokers and remove it again as needed (because it tends to re-register after a while having). This way, you prevent data brokerage companies from compiling a complete profile on you and selling it to the first bidder, be it a hacker, a marketing agency or an insurance company. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.

3. Delete all unused apps on your phone: Unused apps can be hidden gateways to data leaks and security vulnerabilities. Regularly audit and Remove applications What you no longer use or need.

4. Check the permissions you want to keep: Review each application Access to your personal data, location and device features To make sure you’re not carelessly sharing more information than necessary. Be especially careful with health and fitness tracking apps.

5. Use a VPN (virtual private network) when you need to: Encrypt your online activities and mask your digital environment to add an extra layer of identity and protection. Reliable VPN It can help protect your personal information from interceptions and data mines. For the best VPN software, see our expert review of the best VPNs for private browsing Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.

Kurt’s key uses

The reality of healthcare data breaches is terrifying, but it’s not completely out of your control. While you can’t prevent breaches from happening, you can take steps to reduce the risks and protect your personal information. Consider adding locks to your digital doors: keep your social media private, use a VPN, and clean up unused apps. Remember, the less information you leave out there, the harder it is for bad actors to exploit. Be proactive and don’t let your data be used by someone else.

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