Sohn: Georgia has -- or had -- your secret numbers


KEYWORDS: data mining illustration web internet identity digital privacy security hacking theft virtual computer magnify magnifying glass inspect inspection investigate security private eye; 01027000; ACE; ENT; internet; krtentertainment entertainment; 02001002; computer crime; CRI; 02000000; CLJ; krtcrime crime; krtnational national; krtworld world; krt; mctillustration; 2007; krt2007; mina sa contributor coddington mct mct2007
KEYWORDS: data mining illustration web internet identity digital privacy security hacking theft virtual computer magnify magnifying glass inspect inspection investigate security private eye; 01027000; ACE; ENT; internet; krtentertainment entertainment; 02001002; computer crime; CRI; 02000000; CLJ; krtcrime crime; krtnational national; krtworld world; krt; mctillustration; 2007; krt2007; mina sa contributor coddington mct mct2007

Don't worry so much about Chinese or Korean hackers selling the jewels of your digital identity.

If you are a Georgia voter, your state has beaten those rogues to the punch.

Also read

* Georgia accidentally releases personal data of 6 million citizens

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp acknowledged Wednesday that Social Security numbers and other personal information for the state's more than 6 million registered voters were released last month to political parties and media organizations. His office faces a lawsuit filed this week.

The lawsuit says driver's license numbers and dates of birth were included in the files that Kemp's office disseminated in October.

Kemp's office regularly sends an updated list of all registered voters in the state to political parties and media organizations as allowed by Georgia law. The state charges a $500 fee for others who want to buy the file. The data normally sold is only supposed to include a voter's name, residence, mailing address, race, gender, registration date and last voting date. But this time, the personal information was put in the wrong file because of a "clerical error," and 12 recipients got discs containing the information that should have been withheld. Kemp said that by Thursday, his office had retrieved or destroyed all 12 discs containing personally identifiable voter information.

"My staff has verified with the media outlets and political parties that received these discs that they have not copied or otherwise disseminated confidential voter data to outside sources. I am confident that our voters' personal information has not been compromised," he said.

The clerk was fired. Who's next?

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