500,000 Veterans’ Social Security Numbers Published in the Congressional Record

[Len-2A Training]

http://usefularts.us/2009/11/11/carl-malamud-military-pii/

PII Compliant? 500,000 Veterans’ Social Security Numbers Published in the Congressional Record
By Dave Wieneke on Nov 11, 2009 in Featured, Privacy/security

Just over a year ago, Carl Malamud, the founder of Public.Resource.org, a non-profit dedicated to making public records available online, did the Department of Defense a big proper.


He noticed that the social security numbers of officers were being printed in the Congressional Record. Hundreds of thousands of them. Since copies of the Congressional Record are available online and in print at libraries throughout the United States, this is a big privacy breach.

As a good citizen, Malamud immediately informed the Defense Department’s Inspector General Gordon Heddell; the Government Printing Office, which prints the Congressional Record and publishes it online; and the three major commercial databases that publish online versions of the federal publication: W.S. Hein, LexisNexis and Westlaw.

Remarkably, it took ten months for the complaint to make its way to Defense Department’s Privacy Office.

“We’re at the beginning stages of this,” Jenkins said. “We’re taking this very seriously and aggressively pursuing action.” (As if…) When contacted by Stars and Stripes, military officials could not explain why it took nearly a year to address the complaint.

In contrast, LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw both removed the data from their services back in 2008. Stars and Stripes found that W.S. Hein, like our federal government, had still not acted.

As today is Veterans Day, here’s a tip of the hat to Malamud, who switched gears from making public records publicly available, to helping keep the personal data of those servicing the public, private.

And thanks to Stars and Stripes for holding the feet of non-responsive agencies and licensees to the fire.

 

[oldyankee]

Another discouraging word. Big govenment moves slowly its wonders to perform.

 

[Gonzo]

Yay. About once a year I get a letter from the Navy saying that some dumbass lost another laptop that may or may not have had my records on it.

 

[Bob P]

But these same people will do a GREAT job managing healthcare!!!!

/sarcastometer

 

[Navy Moose]

If you liked how well "Cash for Clunkers" worked, you'll love how well government run healthcare works.

 

[FreeWillie]

Let's not all forget the numbnuts that lost the VA laptop with 26 million names and SSN's on it.... lovely.