Food Stamp Data Breach
July 25, 2008 – 10:32 amMany people have the common misconception that if you’re careful enough, your identity can’t be compromised. Unfortunately, your private data is not always protected by the companies you trust. Even the government can put you at risk. On Wednesday, the identities of over 70 people were compromised at the San Francisco Human Services Department. These people applied for food stamps or financial service programs only to find that their identities were exposed. The applications with their personal information such as social security numbers and driver’s licenses were carelessly left in a recycling bin outside the facilities.
According to statistics, only about 35% of identity theft victims can identify how it happened, but 25% of these identify the source of the theft as the garbage or other forms of paper theft. According to our laws, if an identity thief is caught looking for sensitive information in the garbage, he can be fined up to $500. It seems such a small price to pay for a crime that can cost someone tens of thousands of dollars.
While there were no actual reports of resulting identity theft so far, this incident serves as another reminder that identity theft protection is our of our hands. With simple employee errors or outright neglect, we can become prime targets for identity theft.
