Mobile Liability (Issues IN THERAPY‪)‬

Mobile devices such as laptop computers, flash or thumb drives, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or palmtops, smartphones, and cell phones have become an integral part of the professional lives of working Americans, including mental health practitioners. Despite the emphasis on security and confidentiality across industries, since 2005 more than 250 million files that contained confidential or sensitive information regarding clients, customers, and employees have been lost or stolen (Ponemon, 2009). The greatest source of this security breach is from the theft or loss of well over one hundred thousand laptops each year. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), airports are the most frequent place from which laptops are stolen, followed by hotels and then parked cars (FTC, 2008). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]