Do you own a watercraft in the State of Illinois? There may be a chance that your identity has been compromised. WCIA-News reports this afternoon that an official at the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology published the names, genders, birth dates, and social security numbers of watercraft owners publicly to the Illinois Open Data Portal back in April and May.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources collects the information to make sure that watercraft owners are compliant with child support obligations. The Department of Innovation and Technology runs the database for IDNR. An employee at Innovation and Technology published the information to the Open Data Portal, which is open to the public between April 4th and April 8th and again on April 29 through May 4th. It has since been removed and the agency has changed its internal policies to ensure it never happens again. The state’s cyber security department notified all major credit reporting agencies and has sent mail to those watercraft owners impacted by the breach.
In a statement from the Innovation and Technology Department, they urged people to contact the Illinois Attorney General’s office or the Federal Trade Commission if they noticed in adverse effects from the breach.