Attorney General James Holds American Medical Collection Agency Responsible for 2019 Data Breach

 

AG James Co-Leads Bipartisan Coalition of 41 Attorneys General In Resolving Data Breach

Investigation That Exposed Personal Information of Up to 21 Million Americans

 New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced an agreement between a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general from around the nation and the Westchester County debt collection agency Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau, d/b/a American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA), that resolves a multistate investigation into the company’s 2019 data breach. The breach exposed the personal information — including Social Security numbers, payment card information, and, in some instances, names of medical tests and diagnostic codes — of up to 21 million individuals, including 582,146 New Yorkers. AMCA is based in Elmsford, New York and specializes in small-balance medical-debt collection, primarily for laboratories and medical testing facilities.

“If companies are going to manage New Yorkers’ personal information, they must make every effort to protect that information,” said Attorney General James. “But AMCA’s security failures resulted in 21 million Americans having their data illegally accessed. I am committed to protecting New Yorkers’ personal data and will not hesitate to hold companies accountable when they fail to safeguard that information. Today’s agreement ensures that the company has the appropriate security and incident response plan in place so that a failure like this does not take place again.” 

Between August 1, 2018 and March 30, 2019, an unauthorized user gained access to AMCA’s internal system and was able to collect a wide variety of customers’ personal information. Despite numerous warnings from banks that processed its payments about a potential breach, AMCA failed to detect the intrusion. 

On June 3, 2019, AMCA provided notice to the states, including New York — which immediately opened an investigation. The company also simultaneously began providing notice to affected individuals. To help manage the harm from the exposure of personal information, AMCA offered affected individuals two years of free credit monitoring.

On June 17, 2019 — as a result of the costs associated with providing notification and remediating the breach — AMCA filed for bankruptcy. In order to continue the investigation and take steps to ensure that the personal information of their residents was protected, Attorney General James and other members of the multistate coalition participated in the bankruptcy proceedings. The company ultimately received permission from the bankruptcy court to settle with the multistate coalition, and, on December 9, 2020, the company filed for dismissal of the bankruptcy. 

Under the terms of today’s agreement, AMCA and its principals have agreed to implement and maintain a number of data security practices designed to strengthen its information security program and safeguard the personal information of consumers. These include:

• Creating and implementing an information security program with detailed requirements, including an incident response plan;
• Employing a duly qualified chief information security officer to oversee data safety practices at the company;
• Hiring a third-party assessor to perform an information security assessment; and
• Cooperating with the attorneys’ general investigation and maintaining evidence.

As part of the agreement, AMCA may also be liable for a $21 million payment to the states if the company violates the injunctive terms of the agreement. Because of AMCA’s financial condition, the payment will be suspended if no violation occurs.

Joining Attorney General James in co-leading this investigation were the attorneys general of Connecticut, Indiana, and Texas. They were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

New York State Comptroller DiNAPOLI ANNOUNCES SALE OF $636 MILLION STATE OF NEW YORK GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS

 

Competitive Offering to Feature Tax-Exempt and Taxable Bonds

 State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced the details of the competitive sale scheduled for March 16 of tax-exempt and taxable New York State General Obligation bonds, totaling $635.9 million. The state expects to sell $181.1 million for new money transportation, education and environmental purposes, and depending on market conditions, $454.8 million to refund a portion of certain outstanding General Obligation bonds to reduce the state’s debt service costs.

The net proceeds of $125.1 million of the new money portion of the Series 2021A Tax-Exempt Bonds will finance projects authorized by the following voter-approved bond acts: Environmental Quality (1986), Clean Water/Clean Air (1996), and Smart Schools (2014). The Series 2021A Tax-Exempt Bonds will mature over 14 years.

The net proceeds of $77.5 million of the new money portion of the Series 2021B Taxable Bonds will finance projects authorized by the following voter-approved bond acts: Environmental Quality (1986), Clean Water/Clean Air (1996), Rebuild and Renew New York Transportation (2005) and Smart Schools (2014). The net proceeds of $452.8 million of the refunding portion of the Series 2021B Taxable Bonds will refund certain outstanding General Obligation bonds. The Series 2021B Taxable Bonds will mature over 21 years.

The bonds are expected to be awarded pursuant to electronic competitive bidding to be held via BiDCOMP on behalf of the Comptroller of the State of New York on March 16, 2021, as set forth in the Notice of Sale published in The Bond Buyer on March 11, 2021. The bonds will be dated on the date of delivery, expected to be March 23, 2021.

Dependent on market conditions, the State of New York reserves its right to change, amend or cancel this scheduled sale of General Obligation Bonds.

A copy of the Preliminary Official Statement is available.

Find out how your government money is spent at Open Book New York. Track municipal spending, the state's 180,000 contracts, billions in state payments and public authority data. Visit the Reading Room for contract FOIL requests, bid protest decisions and commonly requested data.

Governor Cuomo Announces Quarantine for Domestic Travel Will No Longer Be Required Starting April 1st

 

While No Longer Required, Quarantine After Domestic Travel is Still Advised as Added Precaution

Mandatory Quarantine Remains in Effect for International Travelers

All Travelers Covered Must Continue to Fill Out Traveler Health Form Upon Arrival Into New York State

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that domestic travelers will no longer be required to quarantine after entering New York from another U.S. State or U.S. Territory starting April 1st. While no longer required, the NYS Department of Health still recommends quarantine after domestic travel as an added precaution. Mandatory quarantine remains in effect for international travelers. All travelers must continue to fill out the Traveler Health Form. Individuals should continue strict adherence to all safety guidelines to stop the spread - wearing masks, socially distancing and avoiding gatherings.

"New Yorkers have shown strength and perseverance throughout this entire pandemic, and it shows through the numbers that continue to decrease every day," Governor Cuomo said. "As we work to build our vaccination infrastructure even further and get more shots in arms, we're making significant progress in winning the footrace between the infection rate and the vaccination rate, allowing us to open new sectors of our economy and start our transition to a new normal in a post-pandemic world. As part of that transition, quarantine for domestic travelers is no longer required, but it is still being advised as an added precaution. This is great news, but it is not an all-clear for New Yorkers to let their guard down. To beat this virus once and for all we all must continue doing what we know works to stop the spread, including wearing masks, washing our hands and practicing social distancing."

Regardless of quarantine status, all individuals exposed to COVID-19 or returning from travel must:

• Continue daily symptom monitoring through Day 14;
• Continue strict adherence to all recommended non-pharmaceutical interventions, including hand hygiene and the use of face coverings, through Day 14 (even if fully vaccinated);
• Must immediately self-isolate if any symptoms develop and contact the local public health authority or their healthcare provider to report this change in clinical status and determine if they should seek testing.

Comptroller Stringer Analysis: City Spent More Than $447,000 Per Incarcerated Person in FY 2020 as Rates of Violence Rise

 

Department of Correction on the Comptroller’s Watch List for the fourth consecutive year

Agency has been under a Consent Decree and federal mandates since November 2015, yet violence and the use of force within city jails has increased despite rising costs and increased staff ratio per incarcerated person

Comptroller Stringer calls for redirecting resources to programming and treatment that can help prevent incarceration, reduce violence within the jails, and help people succeed in their communities after they leave.

 Today, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released an analysis of Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending for the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) – an agency which appears on the Comptroller’s annual “Agency Watch List” for the fourth year in a row due to concerns around soaring costs and persistent underperformance. The analysis found that New York City spent an average of $447,337 per every incarcerated individual in FY 2020 – a 30 percent increase over the previous year – even as rates of fight and assault infractions in City jails rose by 27 percent. Comptroller Stringer underscored the need to redirect resources to programming and treatment that can prevent incarceration, increase safety within the jails, and help people succeed in their communities after they leave.

Despite historic declines in the jail population that began to accelerate at the end of 2019 with the implementation of new State bail laws and subsequent drops during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the full cost per incarcerated individual continues to increase unabated – more than doubling since FY 2015. Despite higher spending and staffing per incarcerated person, use of force, fights, and assaults on other incarcerated individuals and on officers are all on the rise.

“My analysis of the Department of Correction shows that its spending is continuing to fail to deliver meaningful results for New Yorkers – and it’s why I’m putting them on the Watch List for the fourth year in a row,” said Comptroller Stringer. “The cost to incarcerate a single individual on Rikers has exploded even as our jail population remains near historic lows – yet rates of violence continue to climb. That means we are spending more and more money to incarcerate fewer and fewer people and reducing the safety of both officers and people in custody in the process. We must reimagine our criminal legal system, dramatically reduce the pretrial population, and invest our taxpayer dollars in the resources and programs—from housing to health care—that prevent incarceration in the first place.”

First announced in 2018, the Agency Watch List calls attention to City agencies that raise the most budgetary concerns to evaluate the effectiveness of spending and recommend indicators that should be reported and monitored to achieve the Administration’s stated goals.

This year’s watch list report on the DOC highlighted the following data:

Budget and Spending

• The DOC budget declined 7 percent from $1.37 billion in FY 2017 to $1.28 billion in FY 2020 and is forecast to decrease by an additional 11 percent to $1.14 billion in FY 2021.
• Uniformed headcount has also fallen, dropping 15 percent from 10,862 in FY 2017 to 9,181 in FY 2020. The City forecasts that the number of correction officers will fall by an additional 23% during FY 2021, reaching 7,060 officers by the end of June 2021. However, as of the end of November 2020, headcount was down just 3%, to 8,871.
• Overtime expenses have decreased – falling 44 percent from FY 2017 to FY 2020, as overtime per uniformed officer dropped by 37 percent from $22,131 in FY 2017 to $13,869 in FY 2020.

Census, Staffing and Cost

• Annual admissions to city jails and the average daily population have dropped substantially in recent years. During FY 2020, the population averaged 5,841, a decline of 26 percent from the prior year and 39 percent below FY 2017. Total admissions to jail were down 60 percent, dropping from 58,226 in FY 2017 to 23,317 in FY 2020.
• For the first four months of FY 2021 (July-October 2020), as the city began to ease COVID-19 restrictions, the daily population averaged 4,193, a further decline of 28 percent from FY 2020.
• As of FY 2020, DOC employed 1.6 correction officers and spent an average of $217,043 for every incarcerated person.
• In FY 2020, the City spent an additional $230,294 in non-DOC costs for each person in custody, including expenses for employee fringe benefits and pensions and health care services provided by other agencies, bringing the full annual cost of incarceration to $447,337 per person.

Violent Incidents and Use of Force

• Violence in City jails rose in FY 2019 and again in FY 2020. From FY 2019 to FY 2020, the rate of fight and assault infractions rose by 27 percent and the rate of violent incidents among the jail population rose by 16 percent. Assaults on staff have also increased with the rate rising 26 percent in FY 2020.
• The rate of incidents and allegations of use of force has also grown sharply, nearly doubling from FY 2018 to FY 2020.

Access to Health and Mental Health Services

• As admissions have fallen, the percentage of the jail population with a mental health diagnosis has gone up, reaching 46 percent in FY 2020 and 54 percent in the first four months of FY 2021.
• The share of the jail population with a serious mental health diagnosis also increased from 14.8 percent in FY 2020 to 17 percent in the beginning of FY 2021.

According to the New York City Board of Correction, as of the last day of FY 2020, more than 300 people in DOC custody had a confirmed case of COVID-19, while more than 200 Correctional Health Services staff and over 1,400 DOC staff had contracted the virus. Three people in custody have died of COVID-19.

To read the DOC Agency Watch list, click here.

To view the Comptroller’s annual update on DOC operations, click here.

WILLIAMS CALLS ON MAYOR TO 'BAN THE SCAN' BY ENDING FACIAL RECOGNITION

 

Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams called on Mayor de Blasio today to 'ban the scan' by prohibiting the use of facial recognition technology by city government, including by law enforcement. This request comes after the Public Advocate argued in his State of the People address that "Just as we need to fundamentally change policing tactics, we must regulate policing tools - ending the DNA and gang databases, and banning the use of facial recognition, all of which threaten to be not tools of public safety, but threats to it." In a letter, the Public Advocate states that facial recognition technology will perpetuate existing systemic biases, writing that "Facial recognition technology misidentifies Black and Brown New Yorkers 10 to 100 times more than Caucasian New Yorkers, resulting in real harm. These error-prone, racially biased algorithms have devastating impacts for people of color. One false match can lead to a wrongful arrest, a lengthy detention, and even deadly police violence." He argues that any potential beneficial outcomes of the technology do not justify the harm of this mass surveillance, asking that New York City agencies: Cease use of all facial recognition technology. Permanently destroy data collected and used for facial recognition in the past. Publish data concerning each instance in which facial recognition technology was utilized. "Technology can be a powerful tool to provide equity, transparency, and progress," says the Public Advocate, "But is too often used to further systemic inequities within vulnerable communities."  On Wednesday at 6:00 PM, the Public Advocate will hold a virtual town hall with Amnesty International, S.T.O.P, AI For the People, and Borough President Gale Brewer to discuss the Ban the Scan campaign. The town hall will stream live here.  The full letter to the Mayor is below, and can be downloaded here. Dear Mayor de Blasio: I write to you today regarding the harms of facial recognition technology on New Yorkers when used in public safety and government services applications. Facial recognition technology is a form of biometric technology that produces serious harm. Facial recognition technology misidentifies Black and Brown New Yorkers 10 to 100 times more than Caucasian New Yorkers, resulting in real harm. These error-prone, racially biased algorithms have devastating impacts for people of color. One false match can lead to a wrongful arrest, a lengthy detention, and even deadly police violence. Facial recognition technology should not be used in any capacity by New York City - any potential beneficial outcomes cannot justify the immense harm of expanding systems of mass surveillance that violate the right to privacy and threaten the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. I request the City of New York cease its use of facial recognition technology in order to protect the civil liberties of New Yorkers and end any further development of harmful police practices against Black and Brown New Yorkers. As we have seen, law enforcement agencies' argument that this is necessary to stop crime is simply untrue: with photographs as evidence, they continue to solve crimes without these problematic algorithms. Specifically, in order to prevent the harms of facial recognition in policing and to safeguard the civil liberties of all New Yorkers, I urge that all New York City agencies: Cease use of all facial recognition technology. Permanently destroy data collected and used for facial recognition in the past. Publish data concerning each instance in which facial recognition technology was utilized. Technology can be a powerful tool to provide equity, transparency, and progress, but is too often used to further systemic inequities within vulnerable communities. Facial recognition technology is not necessary and the harms far outweigh any positives. I look forward to receiving your response within one week upon receipt of this letter. For further discussion, please contact First Deputy Public Advocate Nick E. Smith at nsmith@advocate.nyc.gov and Director of Technology, Development, & Data John Robert Katt at jkatt@advocate.nyc.gov. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Jumaane D. Williams Public Advocate for the City of New York

Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Join Us To Celebrate Women of Distinction

 

March 26, 2021 at 11:30am on Zoom (Register)   The Bronx Chamber of Commerce is once again awarding partial college scholarships to high-achieving female Bronx students as part of its annual Women’s History Month Women of Distinction event series, now in its 15th year! This year’s event -- themed Valiant Women of the Vote: We Will Not Be Silenced -- will honor Hazel N. Dukes, President of the NAACP New York State Conference. Meisha Ross Porter, Bronx Executive Superintendent and newly-appointed Chancellor of the NYC Department of Education, will serve as Keynote Speaker.     While we are disappointed to again not be able to gather in person to celebrate our honoree & scholarship recipients and recognize our Chamber member sponsors, we are thrilled to be able to award partial scholarship funds to more than 20 accomplished female students from high schools around the Bronx – a new record for our scholarship program!   Scholarships were made possible through the generosity of the following sponsors: Con Edison, Metro Optics, Ponce Bank, Sandra Erickson Real Estate, The Monroe Foundation, Woodlawn Cemetery, Simone Development, Manhattan Parking Group, Orange Bank & Trust, KZA Realty, Verizon, NYC Council Member Mark Gjonaj, and an anonymous Friend of the Chamber donor.   To join us as a sponsor, make a donation, or purchase an ad in the digital event journal (deadline is 3/16), please email events@bronxchamber.org    To register for the event (March 26 starting at 11:30am, on Zoom), please click HERE

Register

296 Days and Counting

 

I have a new Chancellor next week, and we will do what we can to keep this banner up this year. I am thinking of running for governor next year.