State senators: New law needed to protect sensitive information
(Published Friday, January 5, 2007 09:37:01 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Scott Bauer Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. - The state should prohibit its agencies from turning over sensitive personal data, such as Social Security numbers, to private vendors who do not need the information, two lawmakers said Thursday.
The state senators said they would support such a change after 171,000 state tax forms were mailed with the Social Security numbers included on the address label. Ripon Community Printers printed the labels under a contract with the state Department of Revenue, which provided the information.
The department has retrieved 54,500 of the mailings, as well as the data it gave the printer, and was in the process Thursday of removing the Social Security numbers from computer files it gives contractors, said DOR spokeswoman Meredith Helgerson.
The state needs stricter laws to protect against the release of information that could lead to identity theft, said state Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield.
"We have to expect that this will occur again," Kanavas said.
He and Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, both said they would support a state law prohibiting the release of sensitive personal information to third-party vendors if it is not needed. There currently is no such law, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.
There is a law that went into effect in March requiring any entity, including state government, to notify people when their personal information such as Social Security number has been acquired by someone not authorized to have it.
And in cases when more than 1,000 people are involved, the entity must also notify all consumer reporting agencies that compile and maintain files on consumers.
The DOR believes this case is covered by that law and is in the process of drafting a letter that will be sent to all 171,000 people and will notify credit bureaus, Helgerson said. She did not know how much it would cost the department to do that mailing.
The DOR said the misprinted labels went to taxpayers who used the basic Form 1 and filed jointly as married couples for the 2005 tax year. That means people who filed their taxes with other forms, had a professional service prepare their taxes or filed electronically were not affected.
Social Security numbers appeared on tax form mailing labels until codes replaced them in 1999.
Kanavas wrote a letter Wednesday, signed by nine other state senators, seeking information from the department about what happened and what steps are being taken to ensure it won't occur again.
Kanavas said he wants to wait and see what the department's reaction to the letter is before he decides on what legislation he may sponsor related to the problem.
State Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, said he thought everything that could be done to address the problem was. He didn't think the release of the Social Security numbers pointed to a larger problem that needed to be addressed in state government.
"This was just a screw up," he said. "This mistake that was made was simply that, in my view, a mistake."
The DOR is far from the only state agency that has access to people's Social Security number. The numbers are required by a whole host of state agencies in order to get any number of licenses and permits - including ones to hunt or fish and drive a car - and to receive state assistance, such as Medicaid.
A state audit in August 2005 identified a variety of concerns related to Social Security numbers on University of Wisconsin campuses. The audit found that students' numbers were being placed on ID cards in violation of state law and were being publicly posted on some class rosters and grade reports.
Summary THE PROBLEM: A private vendor hired by the state Department of Revenue mailed 171,000 tax forms last week with the recipients' Social Security numbers on the mailing labels.
WHAT'S NEW: Two state senators say they would support a law prohibiting state agencies from turning over sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, to private vendors who do not need it.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Department of Revenue is drafting a letter it will send to all those affected and planning to contact credit bureaus. The department has retrieved the data and is in the process of removing the Social Security numbers to prevent it from happening again.
