Young Consulting, LLC – Notice of Data Privacy Event

Young Consulting, LLC (“Young Consulting”) is providing notice on behalf of Blue Shield of California (“Blue Shield”) and/or other covered entities, of a data event that may impact the security of information related to certain individuals. Although Young Consulting is unaware of any misuse of information at this time, we are providing information about the event, steps taken since discovering the event, and resources available to individuals to help protect their information should they feel it is appropriate to do so.

What Happened? On April 13, 2024, Young Consulting became aware of technical difficulties in our computer environment. We immediately took certain systems offline to contain the incident and launched an investigation, with the assistance of a cybersecurity forensics firm, to determine the nature and scope of the event. The investigation determined that an unauthorized actor gained access to Young Consulting’s network between April 10, 2024, and April 13, 2024, and downloaded copies of certain files.

During our review process, we worked to determine what information was contained within the involved files, and to identify the individuals whose information may have been involved. That process is ongoing, however during this process Young Consulting identified that information relating to certain data owners, including Blue Shield may have been impacted and provided those data owners with copies of the potentially impacted files. On June 28, 2024, we provided confirmation to Blue Shield that those files were accessed by an unauthorized actor. We then worked to identify appropriate contact information for the potentially impacted individuals to begin providing notification.

What Information Was Affected? The information potentially affected varies by individual but may include a combination of certain individuals’ names, Social Security number, date of birth, and insurance policy/claim information.

What Young Consulting is Doing. Young Consulting takes this event and the security of information in our care very seriously and we are committed to maintaining privacy. Upon learning of the event, we took immediate steps to secure our environment, investigate the activity, and notify law enforcement. As part of our ongoing commitment to the privacy of information in our care, we are reviewing our policies, procedures and processes related to the storage and access of sensitive information to prevent something like this from happening in the future. Young Consulting is also notifying applicable regulatory authorities where necessary. Although we are not aware of any evidence of identity theft or fraud occurring as a result of this incident, we are also offering potentially impacted individuals credit monitoring and identify theft restoration services at no cost to the individual.

For More Information. If you have additional questions, you may call our assistance line at 1-833-448-2610 (toll free), between the hours of 8:00 am and 8:00 pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding U.S. holidays. You may also contact us by mail at Young Consulting, LLC., 3200 Windy Hill Road SE, Suite 1400W, Atlanta, GA 30339.

What You Can Do. Young Consulting encourages all potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant by reviewing account statements, monitoring free credit reports and Explanation of Benefits for suspicious activity, and to detect errors.

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 your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of your 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 you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one 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 your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report. To request a security freeze, you will need to provide the following information:

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

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

Equifax	Experian	TransUnion
https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/	https://www.experian.com/help/	https://www.transunion.com/credit-help
888-298-0045	1-888-397-3742	833-395-6938
Equifax Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348-5069	Experian Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013	TransUnion Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016
Equifax Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348-5788	Experian Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013	TransUnion Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 160, Woodlyn, PA 19094

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); and 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; 1-401-274-4400; and www.riag.ri.gov. Under Rhode Island law, individuals have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this event.