this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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Privacy

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Hello Lemmy, this is my first time posting instead of commenting so if this is the wrong place or I'm formatting this wrong feel free to let me know how to fix it.

One of my healthcare providers (US) has just alerted me I've been affected by a Data breach (from February, so glad to see they took it seriously and alerted people quickly). The breach supposedly affects Full name, address DoB, and health information such as illnesses and medications. They have sent a 2 page information packet that gives recommendations such as calling the three creditors and a "free" 5 year subscription to an experian credit monitoring service. Upon checking the website they want my full name, DoB, SSN, Address, email, phone number, and I'm sure if they could my blood type and fingerprints.

What I would like to know is are these services they are providing me with "safe" for a threat model that involves keeping my information out of the hands of advertisers, bad actors and people who don't need it? Do they already have this information and are just asking to verify who I am? I'd prefer not to have my identity stolen due to someone else's computer having a security flaw. What's my best course of action to preserve my privacy while not having my identity stolen?

Thanks for any help in advance.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah, other than freezing credit, there's not much you can do. It's a toothpaste out of the tube scenario. It's basically too late. The offerings always suck and are basically only there so they can say they're doing something for you.

Other than that, harden your privacy in general. Yeah, it doesn't help for breaches like this because you can't hide from your doctors, but simple things like having an alternate email address makes it a tiny bit better.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

I use randomly generated aliases for every service I use ;P