http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/suit-accuses-georgia-of-massive-data-breach-involv/npQLz/
http://www.peachpundit.com/2015/11/18/secretary-of-state-released-names-and-all-identifying-info-on-6-1-million-voters/
Wonderful. My credit is already frozen at all three agencies, but that will only stop a few types of fraud. This is a colossal screw up on an almost incomprehensible scale.
Ours were released as part of a massive health care snafu last year. Maybe this will be the point where some real rules are put on the credit industry and the SSN becomes a less critical number. I like the way credit cards work - the banks are legally responsible for theft, so there are all sorts of safeguards in the system.
Well, it might not make you feel better, but the number of people involved in data breaches now exceeds to population of the country (obviously a lot of overlap).
So, if your personal data has NOT been compromised, you are probably in the minority.
Ive had mine released by the military, the VA, federal government, state government, university, health insurer, several public schools, and probably a few others I've forgotten. Then there are all the ones I don't know about.
Ssn, military id number, name, address, birth date, etc.
My world has not ended. Nor has my friends and family members worlds. And that is with some fraud and attempted uses of my ID.
So yea, it's not great it happened, but its not guaranteed to be the end of the world either.
Ouch. Good chance my name and SSN are in the mix there as well. Not good..
Remember when your Social Security Number was only supposed to be used in regards to your Social Security account?
Me either.. they stopped limiting it's use to that long before I was born 41 years ago...
In reply to novaderrik:
not too long. Jan 1972 they removed the "not for identification" wording.
So...how do you find out if you're in the list that was released? And how do you lock out new credit with the credit agencies?
ultraclyde wrote: So...how do you find out if you're in the list that was released? And how do you lock out new credit with the credit agencies?
You have to ask if you're information was released. You have to know the data breach happened, and that you were in the data. Most releases you are never notified of. The burden is on them, but hardly ever does the business that was breached step up to the plate and admit it or do anything for those whos data was exposed.
You cannot lock out new credit applications. All you do is request flagging from the three credit rating agencies. The hope is that with flagging the seller or issuer will pay attention. There is no such thing as a lock out.
I suspect I was on the list. However, I already had my personal data stolen in the Anthem data breach. As I hardly ever use credit for anything, my wife and I decided to do a credit freeze - sure, it may not stop anything, but we probably won't have to bother thawing it unless we decide we need to move. For those wondering how to do that, see this link:
http://www.clarkhoward.com/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide
This is a big deal and a royal PIA if you are on the wrong end. Someone got my SS# and name a few years ago and filed a false Tax return, I assume for a massive refund. I had to provide passport images, affidavits, Birth certificates, employment all sorts of crap to the IRS and still it took getting my one of my State Senators involved to resolve it fully with the IRS even though I was trying to file my real claim from the same address, same spouse, same child, same employer I had been doing for years and years prior. Now the IRS sends me a special code in the mail only that has to be written into my return to prove I'm me.
Good luck to you all who have info stolen and is the victim of identity theft. Trust me, it really really sucks.
Just got an email from my healthcare provider telling me they've a spiffy new and secure web page with my info on it. OK.
What is my assigned user ID? My name and ssn all run together.
ARGG!
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