Personal Data Of Two Million Texans Left Exposed For Years
The personal information of almost two million Texans has been exposed for almost three years because of faulty programming issue at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). The department says that details of 1.8 million workers who have filed compensation claims were publicly available online from March 2019 to January 2022.
TDI has made this clear in a State Audit Report published recently that the exposed information included Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, telephone numbers and other information about workers. A forensics company worked alongside TDI to determine the scope of the incident.
TDI has also issued letters to individuals who submitted new workers’ compensation claims between March 2019 and January of 2022, offering 12 months of credit monitoring and identity protection services.
The TDI said the investigation did not find any evidence workers’ personal information had been misused. “In January 2022, TDI began an investigation to determine the full nature and scope of the issue, which included working with a forensic company and working to find out whose information was or might have been viewed by people outside of TDI. “To date, we are not aware of any misuse of the information,” it stated. The department added that it is offering 12 months of credit monitoring and identity protection services at no cost to those who may have been affected.
The security incident was addressed in a state audit report that was published in May 2022. This means that from March 2019 to January 2022, personally identifiable information was exposed to anyone who knew how to find it for nearly three years.
The public notice confirmed that TDI became aware of the security issue on January 4, 2022 after discovering a flaw in the TDI web application that manages workers’ compensation information. TDI is a state agency that oversees the insurance industry in Texans and ensures that companies are abiding by state regulations.
According to the audit, TDI immediately took the application offline when it realised the flaw.
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