Editing Identity theft (section)

=== Medical identity theft ===
{{See also|Medical privacy}}
[[File:Figure 2- Risk of Identity Theft with Medicare Card under CMS’s Three Proposed Options (7802334168).jpg|thumb|US [[Government Accountability Office]] diagram showing the identity theft risk associated with social security numbers on [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare cards]]]]

Privacy researcher Pam Dixon, the founder of the World Privacy Forum,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldprivacyforum.org/|title=World Privacy Forum|website=www.worldprivacyforum.org|accessdate=25 December 2023}}</ref> coined the term medical identity theft and released the first major report about this issue in 2006. In the report, she defined the crime for the first time and made the plight of victims public. The report's definition of the crime is that medical identity theft occurs when someone seeks medical care under the identity of another person. Insurance theft is also very common, if a thief has your insurance information and or your insurance card, they can seek medical attention posing as yourself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.igrad.com/articles/8-types-of-identity-theft|title=Get to Know These Common Types of ID Theft|website=iGrad|access-date=29 September 2016}}</ref>  In addition to risks of financial harm common to all forms of identity theft, the thief's medical history may be added to the victim's [[medical record]]s. Inaccurate information in the victim's records is difficult to correct and may affect future insurability or cause doctors to rely on misinformation to deliver inappropriate care. After the publication of the report, which contained a recommendation that consumers receive notifications of medical data breach incidents, California passed a law requiring this, and then finally [[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act|HIPAA]] was expanded to also require medical breach notification when breaches affect 500 or more people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/medicalidentitytheft.html|title=The Medical Identity Theft Information Page|publisher=World Privacy Forum|access-date=26 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416062351/http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/medicalidentitytheft.html|archive-date=16 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/v_fact_sheets/Fact_Sheet_130_A_Correcting_Misinformation_on_Medical_Records.shtml |title=Correcting Misinformation on Medical Records |publisher=Identity Theft Resource Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123025205/http://www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/v_fact_sheets/Fact_Sheet_130_A_Correcting_Misinformation_on_Medical_Records.shtml |archive-date=23 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Data collected and stored by hospitals and other organizations such as medical aid schemes is up to 10 times more valuable to cybercriminals than credit card information.