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AUGUSTA – The Maine Office of Information Technology (OIT) has begun notifying approximately 2,100 individuals of a recent incident that may have resulted in a temporary exposure of their personal information.
On September 21, 2017, as part of a technology system upgrade, a contractor with OIT posted information from a Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) child welfare services database to a third-party website outside the State of Maine system. The file consisted of information including the names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of persons receiving foster care benefits, as well as the names of children and legal guardians of individuals participating in the program.
“After learning that this file had been made publicly available, OIT immediately contacted the third-party website to have the information removed,” said Chief Information Officer Jim Smith. “The file in question was removed from the website and any copies of the data in the company’s possession deleted.”
A notice is being mailed to the identified parties with information on how the exposure occurred, an offer of one year of credit and identity monitoring, and additional information on ways recipients can protect themselves. A copy of the notification is available at: http://www.maine.gov/dafs/docs/OIT-AllClear-Letter-Sample.pdf.
OIT has partnered with AllClear ID to provide credit and identity monitoring services to the affected individuals. The notice advises recipients that AllClear’s Identity Repair service is automatically available to them, while AllClear’s Credit Monitoring is available at no cost to those individuals who choose to enroll in the service.
“We take our role of safeguarding the personal information of Mainers seriously and believe that providing AllClear’s industry-leading credit and identity monitoring is the right thing to do in this instance,” added Smith. “While the posted information was accessed only once during the time it was available—and we have no reason to believe that this access was malicious—we view it as our responsibility to provide these services to the affected individuals.”
Participants in Maine’s foster care program who may have been affected can call the AllClear Response Center at (855) 609-5573. The Response Center’s hours are 9am EST until 9pm EST, Monday through Friday.
Individuals who have been affected by a data exposure or data breach should consider placing a 90-day fraud alert on their credit reports with one of the three major credit reporting organizations. Once they take this step, the other two bureaus will be notified automatically. Additionally, all Mainers have the right to obtain an annual credit report from each of the three bureaus or to place a freeze on their credit reports. Current law allows Maine residents to obtain a copy of their report or freeze their credit at no cost to them.
For more information on how to take these steps, interested individuals should visit the website of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection at: http://www.maine.gov/pfr/consumercredit/file_freeze_info.htm.
Individuals who have concerns about a potential identity theft can contact the Office of the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at (800) 436-2131. The office accepts calls from 9am to noon EST and 1pm to 4pm EST, Monday through Friday.
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