Housing authority inadvertently posts social security numbers online
TACOMA -- Nearly 1,000 people on a Pierce County Housing Authority wait-list had their personal information inadvertently posted on a Pierce County website, the Tacoma News Tribune reported.
Pierce County officials told the Tribune they learned the names and Social Security numbers of about 980 people were posted online after a woman waiting for housing said she found the information while searching her name on the Internet. Officials believe a Housing Authority employee failed to encrypt a private document, and it was accidentally put online by the Florida-based company that runs the housing website.
Pierce County officials immediately had the website taken down.
Officials told the News Tribune they are trying to figure out how many people accessed the information, and how long the information had been up on the Web.
Pierce County Housing Authority plans to send out letters notifying those affected and offer free credit counseling classes.