Government transparency site revealed Social Security numbers, other personal info

guest · Sep 3, 2018

Government transparency site revealed Social Security numbers, other personal info
September 3, 2018
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/03/politics/foia-revealed-social-security-numbers/index.html

A federal government transparency website made public dozens, if not hundreds, of Social Security numbers and other personal information in a design error during a system upgrade.

The error, on a Freedom of Information Act request portal, was fixed after CNN alerted the government to the situation. For weeks prior, however, individuals' sensitive personal information was available on the public-facing database unbeknownst to them or the government.

[...] There were other instances of sensitive personal information, including dates of birth, immigrant identification numbers, addresses and contact details.

When the website was switched from the 2.0 version to the 3.0 version on July 9, the masking feature for descriptions somehow ceased to exist. No one was aware of the issue until alerted by CNN.
[...] While FOIA requests to the government are considered public, there are many exemptions that the government often applies to protected individual privacy.
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mirimir · Sep 3, 2018

I somehow doubt that this was entirely an accident. It smells of revenge. But who knows?

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Government transparency site revealed Social Security numbers, other personal info

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Government transparency site revealed Social Security numbers, other personal info

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