Social Security numbers released in SLO County data breach
March 3, 2017
The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office released 12 individuals’ Social Security numbers to two private title companies. Ten of the 12 individuals whose Social Security numbers were released are SLO County residents. [Tribune]
Clerk-recorder’s office officials say the Social Security numbers were released inadvertently, and a technical error caused the breach. When the county updated a computer program for its recording system last year, a feature that would have redacted the personal information during an export process was accidentally not set, causing full Social Security numbers to be revealed, Assistant Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano said.
Title companies MPI and Personal Insight have subscriptions allowing them to receive all recorded official public records from the clerk-recorder’s office. MPI and Personal Insight have long purchased images of county records for examination by title insurers, mortgage industry workers, financial institutions and credit agencies.
The Social Security numbers that were released were only revealed in data exported to MPI and Personal Insight. The confidential information did not appear at the county clerk-recorder’s office’s public terminals.
Officials have since corrected the program settings.
Officials notified each of the 12 people affected and urged them to monitor their credit reports, Cano said. MPI and Personal Insight were likewise notified and were told to destroy all copies of the unredacted documents.
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