I first encountered this story in the Buckeye State Blog yesterday (stories here and here), and saw an update today via Plunderbund.
Quoting an article in The Columbus Dispatch, Eric at Plunderbund posts:
A link on the government Web site of Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell contains hundreds of Social Security numbers and birth dates on public documents stored there.
The personal data are listed on nationally standardized forms submitted by citizens and corporations could be mined by any identity thief with Internet access.
I saw this part of the story yesterday, along with the recounting of the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bryan Flannery was one of the individuals whose Social Security number was accessible via the Secretary of State’s web site, and that he was the victim of identity theft. Today, in the Dispatch article, we see the woefully inadequate response from Blackwell’s office:
Because the forms are public documents, the secretary’s office is bound by law to display them as submitted and cannot redact any of the information, Blackwell spokesman James Lee said last night.
“We may not alter it in any way.” Lee said.
But Ohioans should know that Social Security numbers are not required when using that particular form in this state, Lee said.
Nice. As Eric writes, Again, wish I were kidding. So it’s the citizen’s fault you don’t seek to protect their private data? [buzzer sound] Wrong answer!
Lots of forms still ask for that information, and, when people are in “form-filling-out mode”, they aren’t necessarily thinking, “Hey, wait a minute–they aren’t supposed to ask me this! I don’t have to give them my Social Security number.” I’m sure some people out there are still not aware of this rule, but even those who are, may obligingly fill it out anyway, because an official form asks for it.
The onus of responsibility, in my mind, is on the Secretary of State’s office, to make sure that this information is secure. But Ken Blackwell has shown time and time again that he is not interested in safeguarding the well-being of Ohioans.