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St. Mary’s County officials exposed Social Security numbers for all employees of Sheriff

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<div class&equals;"wp-block-image">&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"aligncenter size-full"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;06&sol;GIRL-NEWS&lowbar;00001&period;gif"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;06&sol;GIRL-NEWS&lowbar;00001&period;gif" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-16017"&sol;><&sol;a><&sol;figure><&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;"wp-block-image">&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"aligncenter size-full"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;07&sol;The-Big-Wheels-when-Social-Security-numbers-were-released-in-2014&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-17324"&sol;><&sol;figure><&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading">MISSOURI EXPOSED THE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS OF OVER 100&comma;000 TEACHERS ON IT&&num;8217&semi;S PUBLIC WEBSITE&semi; GOV&period; PARSONS GOT INDIGNANT WHEN ST&period; LOUIS-POST DISPATCH POINTED OUT THE BLATANT ERROR &lpar;AFTER GIVING THE BLUNDERING BUREAUCRATS TIME TO FIX IT&rpar; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;stltoday&period;com&sol;news&sol;local&sol;govt-and-politics&sol;parson-issues-legal-threat-against-post-dispatch-after-database-flaws-exposed&sol;article&lowbar;93f4d7d6-f792-5b1b-b556-00b5cac23af3&period;html&num;tracking-source&equals;home-trending">More<&sol;a><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><br &sol;><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">By Ken Rossignol<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Leonardtown&comma; Md&period; &lpar;This is the full story which appeared in the June 2014&comma; edition of The Chesapeake Today&rpar;&&num;8212&semi; As a result of a public information request for salary and overtime data for employees of the St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County Md&period; Sheriff&&num;8217&semi;s Department&comma; the Finance Director&comma; and County Attorney provided much more data&comma; in writing&comma; in response to the request – the Social Security numbers of all the cops and clerks of the agency&period; The county officials entrusted with vital records of county employees&comma; including the Sheriff&&num;8217&semi;s deputies&comma; enriched the requested material with the Social Security numbers for every employee&comma; including Sheriff Tim Cameron&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;"wp-block-image">&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;11&sol;Amusement-Park-Government-2&lowbar;00011&period;gif"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;11&sol;Amusement-Park-Government-2&lowbar;00011-999x1024&period;gif" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-15849" width&equals;"288" height&equals;"295"&sol;><&sol;a><&sol;figure><&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Resisting the urge to email<&sol;span> all of the data to NSA leaker Edward Snowden or to sell the information to a Nigerian banker&semi; instead&comma;<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"> the written records provided to THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY have been hand-delivered back to the county attorney&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Ironically&comma; the same request&comma; for the&nbsp&semi;name of the <&sol;span>employee&comma; job title&comma; annual salary&comma;<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"> and amount of overtime&comma; in electronic form&comma; was made to the St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s officials in 2011 and was promptly provided&comma; without any extra and unrequested data – such as Social Security numbers&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The Public Information Request specified that the response be made electronically&comma; just as it was two years earlier&comma; to facilitate a digital report to readers of the newspaper&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class&equals;"wp-block-embed&lowbar;&lowbar;wrapper">&NewLine;<div id&equals;"&lowbar;ytid&lowbar;59283" width&equals;"760" height&equals;"428" data-origwidth&equals;"760" data-origheight&equals;"428" data-facadesrc&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;embed&sol;DL3B--w&lowbar;ONo&quest;enablejsapi&equals;1&&num;038&semi;autoplay&equals;0&&num;038&semi;cc&lowbar;load&lowbar;policy&equals;0&&num;038&semi;cc&lowbar;lang&lowbar;pref&equals;&&num;038&semi;iv&lowbar;load&lowbar;policy&equals;1&&num;038&semi;loop&equals;0&&num;038&semi;rel&equals;1&&num;038&semi;fs&equals;1&&num;038&semi;playsinline&equals;0&&num;038&semi;autohide&equals;2&&num;038&semi;theme&equals;dark&&num;038&semi;color&equals;red&&num;038&semi;controls&equals;1&&num;038&semi;" class&equals;"&lowbar;&lowbar;youtube&lowbar;prefs&lowbar;&lowbar; epyt-facade epyt-is-override no-lazyload" data-epautoplay&equals;"1" ><img data-spai-excluded&equals;"true" class&equals;"epyt-facade-poster skip-lazy" loading&equals;"lazy" alt&equals;"YouTube player" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;i&period;ytimg&period;com&sol;vi&sol;DL3B--w&lowbar;ONo&sol;maxresdefault&period;jpg" &sol;><button class&equals;"epyt-facade-play" aria-label&equals;"Play"><svg data-no-lazy&equals;"1" height&equals;"100&percnt;" version&equals;"1&period;1" viewBox&equals;"0 0 68 48" width&equals;"100&percnt;"><path class&equals;"ytp-large-play-button-bg" d&equals;"M66&period;52&comma;7&period;74c-0&period;78-2&period;93-2&period;49-5&period;41-5&period;42-6&period;19C55&period;79&comma;&period;13&comma;34&comma;0&comma;34&comma;0S12&period;21&comma;&period;13&comma;6&period;9&comma;1&period;55 C3&period;97&comma;2&period;33&comma;2&period;27&comma;4&period;81&comma;1&period;48&comma;7&period;74C0&period;06&comma;13&period;05&comma;0&comma;24&comma;0&comma;24s0&period;06&comma;10&period;95&comma;1&period;48&comma;16&period;26c0&period;78&comma;2&period;93&comma;2&period;49&comma;5&period;41&comma;5&period;42&comma;6&period;19 C12&period;21&comma;47&period;87&comma;34&comma;48&comma;34&comma;48s21&period;79-0&period;13&comma;27&period;1-1&period;55c2&period;93-0&period;78&comma;4&period;64-3&period;26&comma;5&period;42-6&period;19C67&period;94&comma;34&period;95&comma;68&comma;24&comma;68&comma;24S67&period;94&comma;13&period;05&comma;66&period;52&comma;7&period;74z" fill&equals;"&num;f00"><&sol;path><path d&equals;"M 45&comma;24 27&comma;14 27&comma;34" fill&equals;"&num;fff"><&sol;path><&sol;svg><&sol;button><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The paper response&comma; which was not requested&comma; used nearly two hundred sheets of paper&comma; in direct conflict with the Maryland Governor&&num;8217&semi;s various Executive Orders dating back as far as 1991&comma; such <&sol;span>as<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"> 01&period;01&period;1991&period;20 6&sol;25&sol;91 Conservation of Paper by Units of State 45 Government&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">On April 28&comma; 2014&comma; Lt&period; Michael Gardiner sent an email asking for more time to prepare the information sought in the request&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;I am asking for an extension regarding the request for overtime of Sheriff&&num;8217&semi;s Office personnel&period; The information has to be prepared by the accounting office&comma; and they advised me this morning that it is a time consuming task as the data is entered by employee number and it does not differentiate between sworn and unsworn personnel&period; I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you&period; I will forward you the information electronically as soon as it becomes available to me&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Lt&period; Gardiner&&num;8217&semi;s request for additional time was granted by THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The request for information regarding overtime came when the St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County Commissioners were faced with large budget requests from the Sheriff&&num;8217&semi;s Department&period; Disclosure of overtime information may have had a bearing on the budget approval sought by the Sheriff&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Therefore&comma; as Lt&period; Gardiner is the &&num;8220&semi;Supervisor of Office of Professional Responsibilities&&num;8221&semi; and reports directly to the Sheriff&comma; the responsibility for the illegal dumping of Social Security numbers cannot be laid solely <&sol;span>on<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"> the doorstep of the County Finance Director&comma; the County Attorney and the County Commissioners&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">As St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s Sheriff Tim Cameron is a state official&comma; <&sol;span>indeed<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"> a constitutional officer of the state&comma; his staff of clerks and cops are considered county employees&period;<&sol;span> The<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"> agency is required by law to be funded by the county commissioners&period; Therefore&comma; compliance with the state law requiring disclosure of public information to the public could be considered to have to adhere to the Governor&&num;8217&semi;s Executive Orders&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Of course&comma; had St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County&&num;8217&semi;s Finance Director&comma; Elaine Kramer&comma; or County Attorney George Sparling felt compelled to verify the data provided in the Public Information Request&comma; they might have spotted the illegal distribution of employee Social Security numbers to the public&period; An electronic distribution&comma; as requested for the <&sol;span>fiscal year 2011&comma; was simple and but four columns&comma; without intricate records of sick leave&comma; annual leave&comma; contributions to pension and FOP dues&comma; worker&&num;8217&semi;s compensation&comma; Medicare contributions&comma;<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"> and so on&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County is not the only government entity that makes illegal dumps of social security numbers&period; The Internal Revenue Service&comma; indeed the very agency caught up in the scandal over illegally auditing conservative groups&comma; the Office of Tax-Exempt Organizations&comma; reportedly did an electronic dump of over 100&comma;000 social security numbers in a public information request to PublicResource&period;org&period; as reported in Human Events in 2013&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">A bill was offered in Congress in 2013 which would require the truncating&comma; or shortening&comma; of social security numbers on written documents&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">This press release was provided by the office of Congressman Dennis Ross&colon; &&num;8220&semi;U&period;S&period; Reps Dennis Ross &lpar;FL-15&rpar; and Kathy Castor &lpar;FL-14&rpar; introduced bipartisan legislation to prevent identity theft by uniformly truncating Social Security numbers on written documents&period; H&period;R&period; 2229&comma; the <strong>Safeguarding Social Security Numbers Act of 2013<&sol;strong> would mandate that Social Security numbers are truncated so that only a few&comma; if any&comma; of the nine digits of the Social Security numbers are visible&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-large-font-size" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;972e2e"><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"><strong>Incompetence in government reigns from sea to shining sea&excl;<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County officials are not the only local government that is criminally incompetent in releasing massive numbers of employee social security numbers&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The City of Providence&comma; Rhode Island&comma; responded to access to Public Records Act request&comma; as reported by Dan McGowan&comma; News Editor of GoLocalProv&period;&comma; with the Social Security numbers of nearly 3&comma;000 former employees of the city&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The request was sought for obtaining information about pension recipients and the publication reported&colon; &&num;8220&semi;The city&&num;8217&semi;s legal team responded by emailing a &period;pdf file which listed every retiree&comma; their retirement date&comma; the date they began receiving a cost-of-living adjustment &lpar;COLA&rpar; and the amount they receive each month&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">When the news organization notified the city of the illegal release of Social Security numbers which the publication charitably called a &&num;8220&semi;mistake&&num;8221&semi;&comma; and requested an official statement regarding the incident&comma; they were instead met with a legal effort to obtain a restraining order to prevent the publication from disclosing the story to the public or ever being written&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">A Judge didn&&num;8217&semi;t have too much sympathy for the incompetent City lawyers and officials&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;Despite GoLocalProv explaining to the city both over the phone and through email that it never intended to post any retiree&&num;8217&semi;s Social Security numbers&comma; the city requested that all records be destroyed and asked that the website refrain from publishing anything regarding the document&period; In court&comma; Assistant City Solicitor Kevin F&period; McHugh argued that the numbers posed potentially &&num;8220&semi;irreparable damage&comma;&&num;8221&semi; to the city&&num;8217&semi;s retirees&comma; especially in a &&num;8220&semi;9&sol;11&&num;8221&semi; world&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;GoLocalProv agreed that all documents should be deleted&comma; but Judge Sarah Taft-Carter said she did not see the sufficient justification to bar publication of a story&&num;8211&semi;so long as no sensitive personal information was disclosed&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;I know it&&num;8217&semi;s embarrassing for the city&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Taft-Carter said&period; &&num;8220&semi;But I&&num;8217&semi;m not sure if that&&num;8217&semi;s the standard&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">While the Judge made the right decision in that case&comma; she might benefit from brushing up on the law and checking with the wonderful law firm of <strong>Levine Sullivan Koch &amp&semi; Schulz<&sol;strong> in Washington&comma; D&period;C&period; who represented this writer in a successful First Amendment case&comma; Rossignol v Voorhaar&comma; in which St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County&comma; Sheriff Richard Voorhaar&comma; Richard Fritz and six deputies were the defendants&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The City of Providence and unions were in the middle of dealing with the city&&num;8217&semi;s &dollar;22&period;5 million deficit and freezing cost of living increases for retirees when the blunder took place&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The reaction from those affected was swift&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">GoLocalProv reported&colon;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;But a lawyer and several retirees on Tuesday offered mixed opinions about the city mistakenly releasing sensitive information in a public records request&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;I&&num;8217&semi;m sure it was done in error&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said Joseph Penza&comma; the lawyer who represents the retired police officers firefighters&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;This had to be a terrible mistake&comma; but I don&&num;8217&semi;t want &lbrack;a reporter&rsqb; or anyone knowing my Social Security number&comma;&&num;8221&semi; one retiree said&period; &&num;8220&semi;How could this happen&quest;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;I just hope &lbrack;the city&rsqb; lets everyone know what happened&comma;&&num;8221&semi; another retiree said&period; &&num;8220&semi;You can never be too safe these days&period; I&&num;8217&semi;d like to know how many people saw the document and why the Social Security numbers were there in the first place&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Other former city employees said they were outraged&period; Former Mayor and City Council President John Lombardi and former union president Stephen Day&comma; two outspoken critics of the current administration&comma; demanded the city investigate the accidental release further&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;As a lawyer and a citizen&comma; I feel this is a complete violation of my rights&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Lombardi said&period; &&num;8220&semi;It&&num;8217&semi;s an invasion of privacy&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s unconscionable&period; &lbrack;The pension records&rsqb; are certainly public&nbsp&semi;information&comma; but not the Social Security number&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Day said if the personal information for thousands of retirees fell into the wrong hands&comma; it could be &&num;8220&semi;Christmas for criminals&period;&&num;8221&semi; He said an outside investigation should be conducted and suggested the city &&num;8220&semi;pay for LifeLock or PrivacyGuard for every retiree&&num;8221&semi; to make sure their personal information remains safe moving forward&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">What recourse St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County Sheriff&&num;8217&semi;s Department employees will have in this matter remains to be seen&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">GoLocalProv dug up these other recent events of negligence on the part of government officials&colon;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;The accidental release of sensitive personal information in a public records request is not uncommon&comma; although the amount of Social Security numbers provided by the city is significant&period; Last March&comma; the <strong>Bloomfield Hills School District<&sol;strong> in Michigan agreed to purchase one-year ProtectMyID plans for 321 employees whose Social Security numbers were released to two individuals&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">&&num;8220&semi;In 2010&comma; a New Jersey school district also released hundreds of Social Security numbers following a public records request&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">According to a Google search of the issue&comma; the incompetent and inept officials of St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County&comma; Maryland&comma; are not the only half-wits sitting on Social Security numbers of those who are either employed&comma; retired or do business with government entities&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The Gazette Extra of Janesville&comma; Wisconsin&comma; reported that the Social Security numbers of 758 persons and companies who do business with the<strong> City of Janesville<&sol;strong> had their numbers provided to Smart Procure&comma; &&num;8220&semi;a company that specializes in gathering purchasing data to seek new customers for their good and services and help them bid for government contracts&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">In the City of Janesville case&comma; the city claims that only three employees of Smart Procure had access to the Social Security numbers&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Once again&comma; LifeLock will be making profits due to the bungling of government bureaucrats&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The City of Janesville issued this press release&comma; according to the GazetteExtra&colon; &&num;8220&semi;The city does not foresee any adverse effects occurring to any of the 758 vendors as a result of the inadvertent release of information&period; However&comma; in an effort to provide peace of mind to those vendors whose information was released&comma; the city is offering identity theft protection service through LifeLock free of charge for one year to any vendor electing to participate&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Those who are used to the incompetence of the O&&num;8217&semi;Malley and Obama Administrations and their screw-ups in Obamacare&comma; V&period;A&period;&comma; Fast and Furious and the never-ending chain of scandals might take small pleasure in the bastion of liberal government&comma; Berkeley&comma; California&comma; where on April 22&comma; 2013&comma; the City of Berkeley admitted that they had disclosed the Social Security numbers of every city employee&comma; again&comma; while responding to a Public Information Request from the media&comma; according to Berkelyside&period;com&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">On May 31&comma; <&sol;span>2014<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"> the <strong>Hurley Medical Center<&sol;strong> in Flint&comma; Mich&period;&comma; disclosed to its staff that Social Security numbers of an &&num;8220&semi;undisclosed&&num;8221&semi; number of employees had been sent out in an email attachment to other employees&comma; all during a health care billing process&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">According to Mlive&period;com&comma; Hurley released this statement&colon; &&num;8220&semi;Hurley has notified all individuals impacted by the disclosure&comma; according to the release&comma; explaining the details and providing a toll-free phone number to assist those who have questions&period; Hurley is also offering at no cost to impacted individuals access to identity resolution services through First Watch Technologies&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">On Aug&period; 30&comma; 2013&comma; THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY reported that an audit of the Maryland Comptroller&&num;8217&semi;s office has found that one division has kept sensitive taxpayer information on a publicly accessible computer server for years&period; The Daily Record reports that the Office of Legislative Audits report made public Thursday found that the Revenue Administration Division kept more than 75&comma;000 records on a server auditors feared could be compromised&period; Those records include Social Security numbers and taxpayers&&num;8217&semi; names&period; Auditors say lax security made records commonly sought by identity thieves vulnerable and it&&num;8217&semi;s not the first time they&&num;8217&semi;ve warned the division&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Legislative auditors reported a total of 10 findings&comma; including four repeat violations by the division&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">The comptroller&&num;8217&semi;s office says most of the recommendations have been implemented and sensitive taxpayer data had been removed from that server&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">In this case of Social Security numbers being released by the St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County government in response to a public information request from THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY&comma; no copies were made of the information and the only copy was returned to the County Attorney&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">But since the reporter who reviewed the material has a photographic memory&comma; should he ever be kidnapped and tortured&comma; all the numbers will be disclosed&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">In the event that the St&period; Mary&&num;8217&semi;s County&comma; Md&period; officials attempt to lie&comma; obfuscate&comma; distort or otherwise cover up this disclosure of their criminal negligence&comma; the following individuals can verify that the last four digits of their Social Security numbers which were revealed in the release are authentic&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Sheriff Tim Cameron&colon; 3544<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Civilian Administrator Brian Eley&colon; 7197<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Major John Horne&colon; 4174<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Capt&period; Daniel Alioto&colon; 1307<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Capt&period; Edward Willenborg&colon; 5005<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Capt&period; Steven Hall&colon; 1866<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Capt&period; Michael Merican&colon; 8071<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;">Capt&period; Terry L&period; Black&colon; 3130<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 12pt&semi;"><div id&equals;"metaslider-id-3609" style&equals;"max-width&colon; 750px&semi;" class&equals;"ml-slider-3-100-1 metaslider metaslider-flex metaslider-3609 ml-slider ms-theme-default" role&equals;"region" aria-label&equals;"Advertisers" data-height&equals;"500" data-width&equals;"750">&NewLine; <div id&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;container&lowbar;3609">&NewLine; <div id&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;3609" class&equals;"flexslider">&NewLine; <ul class&equals;'slides'>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; block&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-11695 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2016-08-03 00&colon;11&colon;16"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;lindascafelpcity&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"View Slide Details" class&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;image&lowbar;link"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;08&sol;Lindas-On-The-Go-side-604x403&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-11695 msDefaultImage" &sol;><&sol;a><div class&equals;"caption-wrap"><div class&equals;"caption">As St&period; Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron is a state official&comma; indeed a constitutional officer of the state&comma; his staff of clerks and cops are considered county employees and the agency is required by law to be funded by the county commissioners&period; Therefore&comma; compliance with the state law requiring disclosure of public information to the public could be considered to have to adhere to Executive Orders of the Governor&period;&NewLine;&NewLine;Of course&comma; had St&period; Mary’s County’s Finance Director&comma; Elaine Kramer or County Attorney George Sparling felt compelled to verify the data provided in the Public Information Request&comma; they might have spotted the illegal distribution of employee Social Security numbers to the public&period; An electronic distribution&comma; as requested for fiscal year 2011&comma; was simple and but four columns&comma; without intricate records of sick leave&comma; annual leave&comma; contributions to pension and FOP dues&comma; worker’s compensation&comma; Medicare contributions and so on&period;&NewLine;&NewLine;St&period; Mary’s County is not the only government entity that makes illegal dumps of social security numbers&period; The Internal Revenue Service&comma; indeed the very agency caught up in the scandal over illegally auditing conservative groups&comma; the Office of Tax Exempt Organizations&comma; reportedly did an electronic dump of over 100&comma;000 social security numbers in a public information request to PublicResource&period;org&period; as reported in Human Events in 2013&NewLine;<&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-1464 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2011-04-03 01&colon;26&colon;27"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;allpawnandguns&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"View Slide Details" class&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;image&lowbar;link"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2011&sol;04&sol;All-Pawn-March-2011-Ches-750x500&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-1464 msDefaultImage" &sol;><&sol;a><div class&equals;"caption-wrap"><div class&equals;"caption">As St&period; Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron is a state official&comma; indeed a constitutional officer of the state&comma; his staff of clerks and cops are considered county employees and the agency is required by law to be funded by the county commissioners&period; Therefore&comma; compliance with the state law requiring disclosure of public information to the public could be considered to have to adhere to Executive Orders of the Governor&period;&NewLine;&NewLine;Of course&comma; had St&period; Mary’s County’s Finance Director&comma; Elaine Kramer or County Attorney George Sparling felt compelled to verify the data provided in the Public Information Request&comma; they might have spotted the illegal distribution of employee Social Security numbers to the public&period; An electronic distribution&comma; as requested for fiscal year 2011&comma; was simple and but four columns&comma; without intricate records of sick leave&comma; annual leave&comma; contributions to pension and FOP dues&comma; worker’s compensation&comma; Medicare contributions and so on&period;&NewLine;&NewLine;St&period; Mary’s County is not the only government entity that makes illegal dumps of social security numbers&period; The Internal Revenue Service&comma; indeed the very agency caught up in the scandal over illegally auditing conservative groups&comma; the Office of Tax Exempt Organizations&comma; reportedly did an electronic dump of over 100&comma;000 social security numbers in a public information request to PublicResource&period;org&period; as reported in Human Events in 2013&NewLine;<&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-15651 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2019-05-28 19&colon;45&colon;10"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;read&period;amazon&period;com&sol;kp&sol;embed&quest;asin&equals;B07S8F7WF6&amp&semi;preview&equals;newtab&amp&semi;linkCode&equals;kpe&amp&semi;ref&lowbar;&equals;cm&lowbar;sw&lowbar;r&lowbar;kb&lowbar;dp&lowbar;NqC7CbPH5FBPA&amp&semi;tag&equals;stmarystodaonlin" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"View Slide Details" class&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;image&lowbar;link"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;05&sol;MurderUSA&lowbar;AUDIO-750x500&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-15651 msDefaultImage" title&equals;"boy screams opening the mouth" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-16578 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2021-05-07 14&colon;29&colon;41"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;05&sol;Buzzs-Marina-2019-750x500&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-16578 msDefaultImage" title&equals;"Buzzs Marina 2019" &sol;><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-16742 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2021-10-24 22&colon;51&colon;01"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;lindascafelpcity" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"View Slide Details" class&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;image&lowbar;link"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;02&sol;Lindas-Cafe-Now-Open-at-new-location-750x500&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-16742 msDefaultImage" title&equals;"Lindas Cafe Now Open at new location" &sol;><&sol;a><div class&equals;"caption-wrap"><div class&equals;"caption"><div>Linda's Cafe new location now open<&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-16901 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2022-01-15 22&colon;19&colon;57"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;floridafishingkayaks&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"View Slide Details" class&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;image&lowbar;link"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;01&sol;Wavewalk-Kayaks-1-750x500&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-16901 msDefaultImage" title&equals;"Wavewalk Kayaks" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-17596 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2023-08-11 22&colon;30&colon;44"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;08&sol;Press-pass-OConnor-email-750x500&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-17596 msDefaultImage" title&equals;"Press pass O&&num;039&semi;Connor email" &sol;><div class&equals;"caption-wrap"><div class&equals;"caption"><div>WHISTLE BLOWERS WANTED<&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-17916 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2024-08-03 21&colon;43&colon;22"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;huntplumbingheatingandairconditioning&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"View Slide Details" class&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;image&lowbar;link"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;08&sol;HUNT-Plumbing-Heating-and-Air-Conditioning-750x500&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-17916 msDefaultImage" title&equals;"HUNT Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning" &sol;><&sol;a><div class&equals;"caption-wrap"><div class&equals;"caption"><div>Click to website for Special Offers<&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;div><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-28836 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2024-11-06 20&colon;52&colon;51"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;dp&sol;B0D17J3VS7&quest;binding&equals;kindle&lowbar;edition&amp&semi;ref&lowbar;&equals;dbs&lowbar;s&lowbar;ks&lowbar;series&lowbar;rwt&lowbar;tkin&amp&semi;qid&equals;1730944414&amp&semi;sr&equals;1-2" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"View Slide Details" class&equals;"metaslider&lowbar;image&lowbar;link"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;11&sol;32-Book-Series-THE-CHESAPEAKE-TODAY--381x254&period;png" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-28836 msDefaultImage" title&equals;"32 Book Series THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine; <li style&equals;"display&colon; none&semi; width&colon; 100&percnt;&semi;" class&equals;"slide-28898 ms-image " aria-roledescription&equals;"slide" data-date&equals;"2025-05-12 08&colon;27&colon;53"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;the-chesapeake&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2025&sol;05&sol;FITZIES-IS-BACK-FOR-2025-556x370&period;jpg" height&equals;"500" width&equals;"750" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"slider-3609 slide-28898 msDefaultImage" title&equals;"FITZIES IS BACK FOR 2025" &sol;><&sol;li>&NewLine; <&sol;ul>&NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine; &NewLine; <&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div><&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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