All articles tagged with #social security numbers
A vulnerability in a Defense Manpower Data Center file-sharing system allowed unauthorized access to unencrypted personal information, including Social Security numbers, for potentially four million military personnel between October 2025 and July 2026. The agency discovered the flaw in July and has since patched the system, offering affected individuals one year of credit monitoring services.
The Trump administration, through the DOJ, is requesting detailed voter registration data, including sensitive personal information, from multiple states, sparking legal and privacy concerns as states resist sharing this data, citing privacy and authority issues amid broader efforts to influence and oversee elections.
A whistleblower claims that former officials at the Department of Government Efficiency copied the personal data of over 300 million Americans, including Social Security numbers, to a private, inadequately secured server within the SSA's cloud infrastructure, raising concerns about potential data exposure and misuse, despite SSA's assurances of data security.
A top SSA official warns that Doge uploaded all Social Security Numbers to a risky cloud server, raising concerns about data security and privacy risks.
A Tennessee man named George Herman Ruth, sharing a name with the legendary baseball player, was indicted for stealing the identities of deceased and retired players to commit fraud, attempting to obtain over $550,000 through false claims in class-action lawsuits. He used stolen Social Security numbers and fake identities to file claims against various companies, and was previously convicted of Social Security fraud in 2020.
A US appeals court allowed Trump's Doge team to access sensitive data from federal agencies, rejecting unions' attempts to block the move, citing unlikely legal violations and lack of standing, though a dissenting judge favored a temporary halt during the case.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing a rule to limit data brokers from selling sensitive personal and financial information, such as Social Security numbers, by classifying them as consumer reporting agencies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This move follows major data breaches and aims to protect consumer privacy by requiring explicit consent for data sharing. The rule targets private companies, not government operations, and is open for public comment until March 2025, though potential political changes could impact its implementation.
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has proposed a drastic method for reducing the federal workforce by using Social Security numbers to determine layoffs, suggesting a 75% reduction could be achieved by eliminating employees based on whether their numbers are odd or even. This approach is presented as a technocratic solution to streamline government operations.
Northeastern University research has uncovered that Uber and Lyft unintentionally sent gig workers' Social Security numbers to Meta and TikTok due to tracking pixels on their websites. These pixels, used for analytics and advertising, inadvertently collected sensitive data from application forms. Once informed, Uber and Lyft quickly addressed the issue. The research highlights the need for better data privacy practices, especially for gig workers, and calls for more transparency and regulation to prevent such data leaks.
U.S. consulting firm Greylock McKinnon Associates suffered a data breach in May 2023, resulting in the theft of 341,650 Social Security numbers. The breach was disclosed on Maine’s government website, with the firm attributing the incident to an unspecified cyberattack. The stolen personal information, obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of civil litigation, includes names, dates of birth, home addresses, medical and health insurance information, and Medicare claim numbers. Despite consulting third-party cybersecurity specialists, the firm took nine months to determine the breach's extent and notify victims.
The University of Michigan has revealed that Social Security numbers and financial details were compromised in a cybersecurity attack that occurred in August 2023. The breach led to the disconnection of the campus network from the internet for several days, affecting the campus community at the start of the fall semester. The unauthorized third party gained access to personal information, including Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, financial account details, and medical records. The University is working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to investigate the attack and prevent future incidents. The number of individuals affected by the breach has not been disclosed.