Oklahoma Leaks 10,000 Social Security Numbers
In what can be called a true Homer Simpson moment, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections managed to leak 10,000 social security numbers by way of an incompetent Web programming team. You see, when the Oklahoma DOC created the state's Sexual and Violent Offender Registry, it essentially put the personal information of those on the list queries into the URLs (Web addresses) linked to each individual.
What's worse, the gaffe means that it not only leaked the personal data of tens of thousands of people, but also enabled anyone with basic Web knowledge to put anyone he or she chooses on the state's sexual offender list.
And yes, that was the Department of Corrections. High five, dudes.
From Slashdot
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Daniel Gaunt @ Apr 16th 2008 8:54AM
It's like a fashion trend at the moment losing or leaking important data! do they all use microsoft software?
Peter @ Apr 16th 2008 10:20AM
you guys spelled numbers wrong.......lolz but that just hilarious to know.....hurray for the strong and sturdy security system of the u s and a!
fistpittingnork @ Apr 16th 2008 11:13AM
This will be the third time I've had to change my SSN.
billy10258 @ Apr 16th 2008 5:57PM
oh really? and that would make you the only american citizen able to do such a thing...but you were not aware of that were you?
no one is EVER allowed to change that number...EVER!
even if fraudulent activity with it occurs you can't change it...it just gets put on notice...sort of an asterisk that a bank will not lend money to this number without verifying completely who this person is
so, nork, you only have to remember it one time, not 3!
CSINBAD2 @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:21PM
Billy10258, you're wrong, there are indeed circumstances under which you CAN get a new SSN. I doubt the process is an easy one, but yes, it can be done. In fact one such condition under which this may happen is if your idenity has been stolen and you've done all you can to clear your name, yet someone is STILL using your number...don't believe me read it on a the Social Security website
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html#thief
Amerist @ Apr 16th 2008 12:37PM
Who needs terrorists when you have saboteurs like that working for the government?
Richard Sweat @ Apr 16th 2008 2:36PM
This is a prime example of why we need a national hi-tec ID card for each person. I get damned tired of dealing with people with alias names, or who have switched names around, and using different socials, birth dates, and addresses. A photo card would cut 90% of the ID fraud out.
Bbwolf7 @ Apr 16th 2008 3:48PM
Do you think a national high tech ID card would work any better? Especially if you had those same web programmers that made this mistake involved with helping out on making the high tech ID card. There are inevitably going to be mistakes made if you go to any other system whether it be high tech or not.No one can say that they can do their job with 100% accuracy all the time.So whether it stays the same, changes or what there will be mistakes made somewhere along the line.What they need to try to do is have a better system of checks and balances to try to minimze the effects of someones mistake. What they could have done is have one company come up with the program and have another independant company test it out before going live with the program.
Jimbo @ Apr 16th 2008 3:56PM
And I suppose you wan't people to put identity chips in their body's also?
there's not much differance between this and tatooing identity #'s on the wrists of people.
NoThanks.
Rita @ Apr 16th 2008 6:09PM
It is very scary that everyone is even talking about chips. We are not animals that we need to put chips in our bodies. Why should anyone resort to the government controlling every move we make. This is suppose to be a free country. They should just have checks and balances. If they want. they should have the chips in child molesters and murders, and not to people that go to work everyday and try to make a living for their families. This subject(CHIPS) is getting very scary. Wake up everyone!! Pretty soon, we won't be able to go to sleep without checking with the government.
Vivi @ Apr 16th 2008 2:40PM
I am truly glad that I am on my way out of this world. What else can I say when I read our government is doing things like this? We are truly hiring people who will destroy us. It is so hard to believe, yet I am seeing more and more errors like this in the news every day.
Does no one care about anything except themselves and what they are looking forward to doing after working hours? Do some decent work for the dollars you get!!!
toots @ Apr 16th 2008 2:50PM
LOOK PEOPLE WHEN R WE GONG TO WAKE UP AND SMELL THE TERRORIST ITS ALL TERRORISTS ACTS WAKE UP PEOPLE
JOSE @ Apr 16th 2008 2:56PM
Well Here We go Again,Thats what you get for leting Moe Larry And Curly work in the Department.
jonas @ Apr 16th 2008 3:10PM
I just got a phone call that somebody in Switzerland tried to use my debit card no. at a auto dealership, thank God my bank blocked it.
because it was out of character for my account history.
mmm @ Apr 16th 2008 3:18PM
They're sex offenders, who cares. They should be dead b/c you can't rehab these people. Again, WHO CARES!
Bear @ Apr 16th 2008 3:51PM
If you had bothered to read the article fully perhaps you would have noticed the part where it says someone could place YOUR name on the list. Having said that, I DO agree with you on the disposition of the sex offenders. Kill them all and let them go to the hell of their own making.
noa davison @ Apr 16th 2008 10:26PM
first of all, i would like to say i hope your 18 y.o son has sex with a 14 year old so he can "get some".
then i hope he is ;locked away for 3-5 years like mine was and branded a "sex offender" for life.Have his young life taken away forever, and when he is 35, like mine is[prob wont be smart enough to live that long,in prison, coming from a dumbshit like yourself] he has to live at home and work for his parents and be a social pariah because of some shitty list that may or may not always state all the facts.[but apparently WILL stae vital info, to whoever asks]
Live it, love it, karma is sending it your way.
stupid ass.
CSINBAD2 @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:35PM
Why wasn't your 18 year-old son having sex with someone his own age? Basically, you're saying that your high school senior or college freshman son was having sex with a girl in the 8th or 9th grade, depending on their birthdays and what state you all lived in...I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous and shouldn't be justified under ANY circumstances.
However, I do agree with you that sex offenders should neither be killed nor should they have their SSN's put on the internet. While there are some genuinely sick puppies out there, there are many who were themselves victims of physical and/or sexual abuse as well as those who have psycholgical disorders and need therapy. Not to mention those who were 18 or 19 and who's girlfriends were 17 (which I certainly empathize with more than an 18 year old sleeping with a 14 year old). Furthermore, I find it interesting that the only sex offenders anyone worries about are those who molest children (or those who are under the age of majority, which may or may not be 18 in a given state), as if those who rape adult women somehow don't count.
Cyn @ Apr 16th 2008 3:20PM
Oklahoma has a policy of using your social security number as your driver's license number. That way, if someone finds your lost driver's license (or hacks into the apparently non-secure state computers!) they have all of the information they need for identity theft: your name, address, and license & social security number. Perhaps this incident will FINALLY make them change that particular policy!
Tracy @ Apr 16th 2008 3:51PM
The use of SSNs for DLs is no longer a practice in Oklahoma. It hasn't been for about 10 years. Before then, it was an option to use your social, or have a computer generated number, and most people chose their SSN.