New safeguards at the Georgia Secretary of State's Office have been put in place, but just how did the office accidentally disclose the private information of more than 6 million voters?
According to details first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an employee who was fired this week had inadvertently added the personal data including Social Security numbers and birth dates to the state's public statewide voter file on Oct. 6. The office then downloaded the file to discs and distributed those discs to the 12 organizations on Oct. 13.
On Oct. 14, the employee “corrected his mistake and removed the personal information. The employee never notified anyone of the change, or of the period when personal information was on the file,” according to Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
The office on its website has posted an official notice of the breach as required by state law. It includes links to major credit agencies and fraud prevention advice but no promise of credit monitoring.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office has established a dedicated hotline for the public with questions related to what it said was the accidental release last month of sensitive voter information. The number is 404-654-6045.
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