WESTERN AREA AGENCY ON AGING DATA BREACH PRIVACY NOTICE

WESTERN CONNECTICUT AREA AGENCY ON AGING PROVIDES NOTICE OF DATA PRIVACY EVENT

September 13th, 2026 - Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging, Inc. (“WCAAA”), located at 84 Progress Lane, 2nd Floor, Waterbury, Connecticut 06705, is writing to inform you of a recent data security incident that may have resulted in the unauthorized access to some individuals’ personal information (the “Incident”). This notice is intended to provide details about the incident, steps we are taking in response, and resources available to help protect against the potential misuse of personal information, if you feel it is appropriate.

What Happened?

On April 22, 2026, WCAAA became aware of suspicious activity within its email environment. Upon discovery of this incident, WCAAA immediately secured the environment and promptly engaged a specialized third-party cybersecurity firm to conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. The forensic investigation concluded on May 29, 2026, and determined that certain email accounts containing personal information were subject to unauthorized access, but it was unable to identify which specific emails, if any, were impacted. The accounts have since been secured and remediated.

What Information Was Involved?

Based on the forensic findings, and in an abundance of caution, WCAAA engaged a third-party data mining company to review the contents of the impacted email accounts to identify the names and types of data elements potentially compromised. The review remains ongoing. Based on the preliminary findings, the impacted email accounts contain certain data elements, including: name, address, Social Security number (or four digits of Social Security number), date of birth, medical information, bank account number and routing number, client identification, home or mobile number, EMS number, emergency contact information, health insurance information, driver’s license number and/or other federal/state identification, emergency contact details, Medicare/Medicaid number, and EMS number. We will mail a formal notice letter to potentially impacted individuals that will identify the specific types of information potentially compromised when the information becomes available. As of this writing, WCAAA has not received any reports of related identity theft or fraud since the discovery of the incident (April 22, 2026, to present).

What Are We Doing?

WCAAA is committed to ensuring the privacy and security of all personal information in our care. Since the discovery of the incident, WCAAA has taken and will continue to take steps to mitigate the risk of future issues. We have taken additional steps to reduce the risk of this type of incident occurring in the future by enhancing our technical security measures and procedures. Specifically, WCAAA has secured the affected accounts, reset and strengthened account credentials, and implemented additional safeguards intended to prevent further unauthorized access. WCAAA also completed an updated security risk analysis and a broader review of its technology and operational security environment and strengthened its audit logging, access and authentication controls, security monitoring and alerting capabilities, email-security protections, and other layered safeguards. In addition, WCAAA revised its security and incident response policies and procedures, provided additional cybersecurity and phishing-awareness training to its workforce, and implemented periodic technical and nontechnical security evaluations.

What You Can Do:

We encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review your account statements, and to monitor your credit reports for suspicious or unauthorized activity. You can find more information on steps to protect yourself against identity theft identity theft in the enclosed Additional Resources to Help Protect Your Information sheet.

Other Important Information:

If you have any questions or concerns not addressed in this notice, you may contact us by calling 855-605-4445, Monday through Friday, during the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (excluding U.S. national holidays).

WCAAA sincerely regrets any concern or inconvenience this matter may cause and remains dedicated to ensuring the privacy and security of all information in our control.

Sincerely,

Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging, Inc.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO HELP PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

Monitor Your Accounts

We recommend that you remain vigilant for incidents of fraud or identity theft by regularly reviewing your credit reports and financial accounts for any suspicious activity. You should contact the reporting agency using the phone number on the credit report if you find any inaccuracies with your information or if you do not recognize any of the account activity.

You may obtain a free copy of your credit report by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com, calling toll-free at 1-877-322-8228, or by mailing a completed Annual Credit Report Request Form (available at www.annualcreditreport.com) to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281. You may also purchase a copy of your credit report for a fee by contacting one or more of the three national credit reporting agencies.

You have rights under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA governs the collection and use of information about you that is reported by consumer reporting agencies. You can obtain additional information about your rights under the FCRA by visiting https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/fair-credit-reporting-act.

Credit Freeze

You have the right to add, temporarily lift and remove a credit freeze, also known as a security freeze, on your credit report at no cost. A credit freeze prevents all third parties, such as credit lenders or other companies, whose use is not exempt under law, from accessing your credit file without your consent. If you have a freeze, you must remove or temporarily lift it to apply for credit. Spouses can request freezes for each other as long as they pass authentication. You can also request a freeze for someone if you have a valid Power of Attorney. If you are a parent/guardian/representative you can request a freeze for a minor 15 and younger.  To add a security freeze on your credit report you must make a separate request to each of the three national consumer reporting agencies by phone, online, or by mail by following the instructions found at their websites (see “Contact Information” below). The following information must be included when requesting a security freeze: (i) full name, with middle initial and any suffixes; (ii) Social Security number; (iii) date of birth (month, day, and year); (iv) current address and any previous addresses for the past five (5) years; (v) proof of current address (such as a copy of a government-issued identification card, a recent utility or telephone bill, or bank or insurance statement); and (vi) other personal information as required by the applicable credit reporting agency.

Fraud Alert

You have the right to add, extend, or remove a fraud alert on your credit file at no cost. A fraud alert is a statement that is added to your credit file that will notify potential credit grantors that you may be or have been a victim of identity theft. Before they extend credit, they should use reasonable procedures to verify your identity. Please note that, unlike a credit freeze, a fraud alert only notifies lenders to verify your identity before extending new credit, but it does not block access to your credit report. Fraud alerts are free to add and are valid for one year. Victims of identity theft can obtain an extended fraud alert for seven years. You can add a fraud alert by sending your request to any one of the three national reporting agencies by phone, online, or by mail by following the instructions found at their websites (see “Contact Information” below). The agency you contact will then contact the other credit agencies.

Federal Trade Commission

For more information about credit freezes and fraud alerts and other steps you can take to protect yourself against identity theft, you can contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, www.identitytheft.gov, 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338), 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. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above.

You should also report instances of known or suspected identity theft to local law enforcement and the Attorney General’s office in your home state and you have the right to file a police report and obtain a copy of your police report.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Below is the contact information for the three national credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) if you would like to add a fraud alert or credit freeze to your credit report.