The Snowden effect: Fear in corporate America

“At our company, nobody has any idea exactly who has what access,” an information technology specialist for a major bank told POLITICO. “There are safeguards, but by the time anyone knows what someone’s done, the violator could be off to Hong Kong with Brad Pitt’s credit card statements and sell them to TMZ. It’s easier to imagine it than it is to fully prevent it.” …

“We haven’t heard of the Edward Snowden of health IT, at least as of yet,” said Deven McGraw, director of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington D.C. “Is the capacity there for that to happen? Oh, sure. With any employee who manages data within any organization, there’s a possibility they could go rogue.”

McGraw added: “Employee snooping is a huge problem. We end up finding out about it when it’s a VIP who is the victim. But in a lot of small towns, the hospital is the largest employer and looking up your neighbor is pretty common.”