Military lags in safeguarding officers’ identities
November 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Government Sector, Of Note, U.S.
Charlie Reed of Stars and Stripes reports on the military’s progress – or lack thereof – in addressing an August 2008 report by PublicResources.org that revealed that hundreds of thousands military officers’ Social Security numbers were publicly available in government and commercial databases, including the Congressional Record, W.S. Hein, LexisNexis, and Westlaw.
It seems that not only are some digital databases still not redacted, but there are issues dealing with the numerous print copies of the Congressional Record held by public libraries.
The report also refers to media coverage in 1999 indicating that some military officers had become victims of ID theft or fraud because of public disclosure of their SSN. Although not specifically referenced in their news coverage, interested readers can find 1999 media coverage here and here.
Read the story on Stars and Stripes.