ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota is among 32 states to reach a settlement with a health care clearinghouse over a 2019 data breach that exposed the personal information of 1.5 million Americans.
The office of Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Monday that he and a bipartisan coalition of 32 attorneys general hammered out an agreement requiring Inmediata to pay $1.4 million to states impacted by the data breach, including $93,157 to Minnesota.
As a clearinghouse, Inmediata acts as a bridge between health care providers and insurers across the U.S. The settlement alleges that in 2019 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights informed the company that protected health information was found to be accessible via Inmediata's computer system and was being accessed online.
Ellison says although Inmediata was alerted to the breach on Jan. 15, 2019, the company delayed notifying consumers for over three months and in some cases sent misaddressed notices. Even those who received notices complained that without sufficient details or context, they had no idea why Inmediata had their data.
“Companies that hold sensitive information must take the utmost care to keep it secure. If a breach does occur, it is their duty under law to alert those affected and rectify the issue as soon as possible,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison in a news release announcing the settlement. “Inmediata both failed to protect sensitive data and failed to promptly and accurately notify consumers of the breach. As a result, they exposed 113,000 Minnesotans to the risks of identity theft. I will hold companies accountable whenever they mishandle sensitive consumer data.”
Along with monetary damages, Inmediata has agreed to strengthen data security and breach notification practices going forward, along with implementing security requirements that include code review and crawling controls, development of an incident response plan, and annual third-party security assessments for the next five years.
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