Public employees union slams Alaska data loss deal

[security curmudgeon <jericho () attrition org>]

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9E8IENO1.htm

The Associated Press  March 5, 2010, 10:46AM ET
Public employees union slams Alaska data loss deal
By JEREMY HSIEH

A union representing 8,000 Alaska government workers is calling on the 
state to renegotiate terms of an identity theft settlement with the firm 
responsible for losing personal data of 77,000 current and former public 
employees.

In a letter to the administration sent Thursday, the Alaska State 
Employees Association criticized the state's settlement with 
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for being too passive and too limited.

Specifically, it wants the affected people to be automatically enrolled 
into the firm's credit protection services, instead of being required to 
opt-in. The union also questioned why those services will only be 
available for a minimum of two years, though consequences of the data loss 
may pop up long after the services expire.

"We think that's shortsighted to put a two-year period on it," said union 
business manager Jim Duncan. "It doesn't adequately protect our members or 
retirees."

The union's concerns may reflect some confusion about the settlement's 
terms, said senior assistant attorney general Ed Sniffen. He characterized 
it as a generous settlement that the Department of Law is pleased with. 
And unless new information indicates the parties weren't negotiating in 
good faith, renegotiation is unlikely.

"The settlement is the settlement," Sniffen said.

[..]
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