BNHC providing notice of data event involving health center systems

Brockton Neighborhood Health Center – Notice of Data Event

Brockton Neighborhood Health Center (“BNHC”) is providing notice of an event that may involve personal information related to certain individuals. BNHC is providing information about the event, our response, and resources available to individuals to help them protect their information from possible misuse, should they feel it appropriate to do so.

What Happened? On November 3, 2024, BNHC became aware of suspicious activity involving our computer network and promptly began an investigation. On November 18, 2024, the investigation determined that an unknown actor viewed or copied certain files from our systems between November 1, 2024 and November 3, 2024. We then reviewed our records to identify individuals whose information may have been affected by this event. On November 29, 2024, we determined that personal information related to certain current or former patients who were treated at BNHC between 2017 and 2022 may have been present in the affected files.

What Information Was Involved? The personal information in the affected files may include certain individuals’ names and the following: date of birth, address information, diagnosis/conditions, lab results, medications, medical record number, health insurance information, and other treatment information.

What We Are Doing. We take this event and the security of information in our care seriously. We moved quickly to secure our network, investigate the suspicious activity, and notify potentially affected individuals. As part of our ongoing commitment to information security, we are reviewing our policies and procedures to reduce the likelihood of similar future events. We also notified federal law enforcement and will be notifying relevant regulators, as required.

What You Can Do. We encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing your account statements, explanation of benefits statements, and monitoring free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Suspicious activity should be promptly reported to relevant parties such as an insurance company, healthcare provider, and/or financial institution.  Additional information and resources may be found below in the Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Personal Information.

For More Information. We understand you may have questions about this event not addressed in this notice. If you have any questions, please contact us at 1-833-799-4377 (toll-free) from 8 am to 8 pm Monday through Friday, excluding U.S. holidays. You may also write to BNHC at 63 Main Street, Brockton, MA 02301, ATTN: Compliance Officer.

Steps You Can Take To Help Protect Personal Information

Monitor Your Accounts

Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order a free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. Consumers may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of their credit report.

Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended “fraud alert” on a credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer’s credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer’s credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer’s identity before extending new credit. If consumers are the victim of identity theft, they are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should consumers wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below.

As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a “credit freeze” on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer’s express authorization. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in a consumer’s name without consent. However, consumers should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in their credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application they make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, consumers cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on their credit report. To request a credit freeze, individuals may need to provide some or all of the following information:

1. Full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.);
2. Social Security number;
3. Date of birth;
4. Addresses for the prior two to five years;
5. Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill;
6. A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver’s license or ID card, etc.); and
7. A copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft if they are a victim of identity theft.

Should consumers wish to place a credit freeze or fraud alert, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:

Additional Information

Consumers may further educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps they can take to protect your personal information by contacting the consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or their state Attorney General.

The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at:

600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, D.C. 20580

www.identitytheft.gov
1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338)
TTY: 1-866-653-4261

The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Consumers can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. Consumers have the right to file a police report if they ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, consumers will likely need to provide some proof that they have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and the relevant state Attorney General. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

For District of Columbia residents, the District of Columbia Attorney General may be contacted at: 400 6th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; 202-727-3400; and oag.dc.gov.

For Maryland residents, the Maryland Attorney General may be contacted at: 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; 1-410-576-6300 or 1-888-743-0023; and https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/.

For New Mexico residents, consumers have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in their credit file has been used against them, the right to know what is in their credit file, the right to ask for their credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting bureaus must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to consumers’ files is limited; consumers must give consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; consumers may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance based on information in their credit report; and consumers may seek damages from violators. Consumers may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here. Identity theft victims and active-duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We encourage consumers to review their rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

For New York residents, the New York Attorney General may be contacted at: Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341; 1-800-771-7755; or https://ag.ny.gov.

For North Carolina residents, the North Carolina Attorney General may be contacted at: 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; 1-877-566-7226 or 1-919-716-6000; and www.ncdoj.gov.

For Rhode Island residents, the Rhode Island Attorney General may be reached at: 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903; www.riag.ri.gov; and 1-401-274-4400. Under Rhode Island law, individuals have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this event. There are approximately 386 Rhode Island residents that may be impacted by this event.