2.9 Million US Residents at Risk of ID Theft

By Greg McNevin

April 12, 2007: Almost three million US citizens have had their names, addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers exposed after a CD containing the sensitive data was lost in the mail.

The data detailed 2.9 million Medicaid and children's health care recipients in the US state of Georgia and according to Affiliated Computer Services, a private company contracted to handle health claims, the CD holding the data was lost while it was being shipped from Georgia to Maryland by an unnamed courier company.

According to state officials, the information covers a four-year period up to June 2006. ACS says that the data was being shipped on physical media because there was too much of it for email.

Perhaps more worrying though, is the fact that the company has not said whether the data was encrypted or not.

ACS has been ordered by Georgia State officials to notify all affected residents and help with credit monitoring, however, that may be small comfort if the data does indeed find its way into the hands of identity thieves.

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