The Marker Group’s LinkedIn profile proclaims they are the “nation’s most trusted name in record collection and medical review.” As a litigation support and records provider, the company is responsible for the safe keeping of highly sensitive information about legal clients involved in multidistrict litigation proceedings across the country.
Unfortunately, that trust took a major hit recently when it was revealed that a data breach of Marker Group servers exposed the personal information of over 14,000 plaintiffs. That data, according to a news release issued by the company, could include a client’s “name, date of birth, social security number, and/or various types of medical records containing treatment and insurance information.”
Unlike other data breaches, the Marker Group breach can link specific people to ongoing medical treatments they may be undergoing or diagnoses they may have received because their names are directly attached to those records. When combined with the other forms of highly personal information found in medical records such as social security numbers, The Marker Group breach opens the door not only to identity theft but also means a nightmare scenario has been created for plaintiff privacy.
As of December of last year, Marker Group had noted that it had “not received any reports of actual or attempted misuse of information as a result of this event.” However, a class-action lawsuit filed as a result of the breach could show just how much damage was done as patient medical records and personally identifying information found their way onto the internet. The company also finds itself at risk of being sued by the very law firms that hired it to support their ongoing operations.
