12 th Paragraph

Editorial from January 11th issue of the Green Bay Press-Gazette
When will the Green Bay Press hold Diamond Jim's feet to the fire?
You don't find Diamond Jims name untill paragragh 12.
HMMMMMMM!

Posted January 11, 2008
Editorial:
Second state
breach is inexcusable
There's a familiar saying: Fool me
once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame
on me.

How did the
government of Wisconsin fail to protect its citizens' Social
Security
numbers, not once, but twice?

A year ago, a contractor for the state
Department of Revenue mailed tax
booklets to approximately 170,000 residents
using labels emblazoned with their
Social Security numbers.
In an era
when thieves can empty a victim's bank and credit accounts armed
with a
name, address and Social Security number, the department's inability to
protect those numbers was nothing short of appalling.

Why does the
producer of mailing labels need that information in the first
place? And if
there is a legitimate answer to that question, how could the state
have
allowed the contractor to put the numbers on the labels?

Apparently not
enough people in state government took those questions
seriously, because
once again the privacy of thousands of Wisconsin citizens has
been breached.

The state Department of Health and Family Services confirmed Tuesday
that a
contractor mailed brochures to about 260,000 recipients of Medicaid,
SeniorCare
and BadgerCare — and their Social Security numbers were printed
on the mailing
labels.

What part of the message "This can't happen
again" was so hard to
understand?

A Social Security Administration
publication, "Identity Theft and Your
Social Security Number," assures
readers that the SSA never releases personal
numbers "except when authorized
by law," and advises that when asked for the
number, "You should ask why
your number is needed, how it will be used and what
will happen if you
refuse."

Those apparently are important questions even — or perhaps
especially —
when the state is asking for that information.

"We've
totally lost control of how government collects and uses and reuses
and
shares and disseminates information," said Carole Doeppers, former state
privacy advocate, in an interview with the Madison Capital Times. Doeppers
was
the head of the Office of the Privacy Advocate for its entire short
history: The
office opened in 1994 and was eliminated in the 1995-97 state
budget.

She thinks the Legislature should restore that office, which
actively
promoted the protection of "personally identifiable" information.
We wonder if
creating a state agency to monitor other state agencies smacks
too much of the
fox guarding the henhouse.

For now, Gov. Jim Doyle
has ordered all state agencies to review their
procedures for protecting
personal information. He also needs to explain why,
after the Department of
Revenue's unforgivable mistake, the Department of Health
and Family Services
still had inadequate procedures in place a year later to
prevent this second
incident.

Until those answers are forthcoming, citizens should be
especially cautious
when an agency of the state of Wisconsin asks for their
Social Security numbers
— and, as in any other transaction, you should not
give it out until you're
satisfied it's absolutely necessary and the number
will be protected.

I can just hear the editorial person say, "Oh, but we did tell you the gov ordered a review of procedures"! Yea right!
Will the gov fire anyone over this?
Highly doubtful.
Time will tell. Na, never happen!