A lawsuit alleges the Georgia Secretary of State's Office improperly released Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and birth dates of more than 6 million Georgia voters. The sensitive information was released to the media, political parties and other paying subscribers who legally buy voter information from the state.
The Secretary of State’s Office is attempting to retrieve the information from the buyers to secure the data. But there are some steps that concerned consumers can take to protect themselves.
According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, if you learn of a breach involving your driver's license information, contact the agency (in this case the state Department of Driver's Services) and ask it for recommendations. The website for DDS contacts is here: www.dds.ga.gov/aboutus/contactus.aspx#_.
For breaches involving Social Security numbers, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse recommends putting a fraud alert on your credit report. If you contact any one of the bureaus, they will contact the other three.
Equifax: (888) 766-0008
Experian: (888-397-3742)
TransUnion: (800) 680-7289
Also, request copies of your credit report to review for suspicious activity.
For more information, visit www.identitytheft.gov/ or www.privacyrights.org/how-to-deal-security-breach.
» Click here to read more about the breach, the fallout and what the state said it's doing next
» Click here to read more about the IT staffer fired following the breach
