Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp assured lawmakers Tuesday that criminals don’t have the sensitive information of 6 million Georgia voters that was exposed in a massive data breach last year.

How does he know?

“I am no expert on data security, but my personal opinion is if that information had made it out to the bad guys, we would already have had some issues,” Kemp said. “I am very confident that information never reached the public domain.”

Kemp made the comments during an appearance before a joint hearing of the House and Senate budget committees.

The secretary of state was in attendance to talk about his office’s proposed budget for the upcoming year, but he knew coming in that he would have to address the data breach.

The personal data released in the breach —- including Social Security numbers, birth dates and driver's license numbers —- appear to have been inadvertently sent out in October to 12 organizations that regularly subscribe to "voter lists" maintained by the state.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Georgia Lt. Gov. Lester Maddox, angry about an article, burns a copy of The Atlanta Constitution in the state Senate on March 10, 1971, saying the paper did not have the "guts, integrity, manhood or decency" to report the situation accurately. (AJC file)

Credit: AP FILE

Featured

Ja’Quon Stembridge, shown here in July at the Henry County Republican Party monthly meeting, recently stepped from his position with the Georgia GOP. (Jenni Girtman for the AJC)

Credit: Jenni Girtman