Justice Department Reveals Social Security Numbers Online

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Yet another reason to make sure you check your credit history frequently? InformationWeek has a story which states that, acting on a tip, they were able to access Justice Department web pages that listed the names and Social Security numbers of people involved in Justice Department legal actions. As a past victim of ID theft (well, even if I hadn’t been), this is extremely worrisome to me.

One document on the Justice Department Executive Office for Immigration Review’s site listed the name and Social Security number of a woman involved in a 2003 immigration-review case. Another document from 2002 listed the name and Social Security number of a man who was being prosecuted for committing insurance fraud. Other searches of the Justice Department’s site yielded more Social Security numbers and identifying information. Source: InformationWeek

We Say: Eh? This is the federal government! The article goes on to state that InformationWeek contacted the feds and the information was removed (well, most of it). On the other hand, how much more information is out there just waiting to be accessed. As I said, I’ve been a victim of ID theft before and because of that, I actually subscribe to a pay-for-alert credit tracking service rather than just relying on the free yearly reports I can get. This makes me feel really confident about the safety of my info.