Skip the navigation

Test Your Privacy Knowledge

A Privacy Rights Clearinghouse/Computerworld quiz

March 15, 2004 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld -

Many privacy abuses are the result of errors and carelessness by those who handle personal information. Some are caused by inadequate security. Responsible information-handling practices begin with the development of privacy policies in the workplace and the implementation of regular training programs.


Take this quiz to test your knowledge of legal requirements and best practices in responsible information handling. To learn more about these and other issues, visit the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.












































1. HIPAA regulations require that privacy notices be written at a ninth-grade reading level.

TrueFalse

2. Does the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act restrict financial firms, such as banks, brokerage houses and insurance companies, from sharing information among affiliated companies?

YesNo

3. Under HIPAA, the federal medical privacy rule, a patient whose privacy has been violated has the right to sue the health care provider.

TrueFalse

4. What types of personal medical information does HIPAA not cover?

Mental health and medical laboratories' records

Workers' compensation, life insurance company records and records from agencies that deliver Social Security and welfare benefits

A pharmacy's records about patient prescriptions and dentist and health insurance companies' records

5. Which states require that companies dispose of documents securely in order to prevent disclosure to "Dumpster divers" and others who don't have a legitimate right of access by shredding paper, "wiping" electronic files and destroying computer diskettes, CD-ROMs and hard drives?

New York, Massachusetts and Minnesota

California, Georgia and Wisconsin

6. Which state requires companies to notify customers and/or employees in case of computer security breaches involving sensitive personal information?

New York

California

Massachusetts

Wisconsin

Georgia

Minnesota

7. What's being done when a record is "severed"?

A. The entire record is closed out and destroyed

B. Nonessential and personally identifiable information is removed from the record before it is disclosed to a third party

C. The record is coded within the database so that only those employees with a legitimate need to know have access to it.

8. According to recent surveys, approximately how many victims of identity theft are there in the U.S. each year?

500,000

5 million

1 million

10 million

9. When contracting with a document-destruction company to retrieve and dispose of any paper and other trash containing personal information, what important qualification should you look for?

A. The company is bonded.

B. The company certifies with a signed, dated document that the material has been properly destroyed.

C. The company conducts criminal background checks of its employees.

D. The company's employees sign a confidentiality agreement.

E. The document destruction company allows unannounced visits so its clients can audit its practices.

F. All of the above.

10. Recycling of paper refuse is a legitimate alternative to having it shredded.

TrueFalse





Read more about Security in Computerworld's Security Topic Center.



Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Security White Papers
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
X-Ray of the PCI Process-4 Proactive Steps
This white paper from Forrester Research Inc., helps break PCI into understandable components. Security and risk professionals will gain knowledge and insight into...
Identity Governance: The Business Imperatives
This white paper describes the business challenges and opportunities that are driving interest in Identity Governance while discussing considerations your organization should make...
All Security White Papers
Security Webcasts
Live Webcast
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
Introduction to VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5
Traditional disaster recovery solutions are often too expensive, complex and unreliable to meet business requirements. As a result, IT departments are hesitant to...
The Top Ten Secrets to Avoiding SAN Performance Problems
Maintaining peak performance while simultaneously addressing the root cause of SAN errors is challenging. Learn the most common SAN problems and explore new...
Deduplication Without Compromise
Go inside Quantum's scalable, high-performance, multi-protocol new DXi deduplication appliances, designed to make backup much more effective. Discover how the new future-proof DXi6700...
Director of Disk Products Discusses DXi6700
Discover how the new DXi 6700 series of deduplication appliances provide investment protection and a future-proof feature set, all while delivering fast, scalable,...
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
All Security Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs