Another day...another data breach. Concerned Louisiana consumers can check their risk of ID theft here...

SSNBreach.org went live on July 18, 2007, precipitated by a breach of almost 200,000 social security numbers by the Louisiana State Board of Regents. However, as more breaches occur, SSNBreach.org will continue to grow, and be a resource for victims of Personal Information Breach.

Using a Google Search, the Liberty Coalition announces the discovery of approximately 163,000 social security numbers, and contact information for nearly 200,000 Louisianans, scattered among nearly 200 online documents.

These documents place hundreds of thousands of people at severe risk of identity theft. The Liberty Coalition has calculated the street value of these files at more than $4 million, and they represent almost a billion dollars in potentially stolen credit.

Data breaches happen daily. We have all heard the news reports about thousands of people at a time loosing control of their identities. Who are these people?

Are you one of them?

A growing number of states have "Breach Notification Laws." These laws require an entity which has placed personal information at risk, to notify the affected individuals. Often press releases announcing breaches are confusing, and vaguely reassuring. They uniformly place the burden on the victim to take action. When identity theft does occur, it is often difficult to hold the breaching organization liable for harm, even if the breach was grossly negligent or reckless.

SSNBreach.org was several years in the making, and is designed to give victims of Personal Information Breach a clear, complete, and correct Information Exposure Report (IXR).

The goals of SSNBreach.org are:
1. Notify and Empower Victims of Personal Information Breach
2. Give Victims Tools to Mitigate Risk
3. Catalyze Change in State Legislatures and Public Attitudes
4. Uphold the Highest Standards of Privacy and Trust

Of course, the very first priority is to empower victims without empowering bad guys. SSNBreach.org has implemented several security precautions to make sure that doesn't happen. The first and most important feature is that SSNBreach.org does NOT store sensitive information in its database: Period. So, even if someone got into the database, there's nothing to see.

Because ssnbreach.org does not contain full Social Security Numbers, addresses, phone numbers, or other sensitive data, users are not able to search by any of these criteria; but we think that's a small price to pay for the security. Instead, the website gives users a Yes/No report on whether their identity may have been compromised, and details about the incident. This "Information Exposure Report" (IXR) also includes links to resources to help individuals take preventative action.

Another major goal of ssnbreach.org is to catalyze change by putting faces on the numbers.
• To call upon Consumers to demand privacy, and question entities which collect personal information.
• To call upon Industry to market real consumer privacy as any other valuable customer benefit.
• To call upon the Legal Community to develop a Model Privacy Code.
• To call upon State Legislatures to pass laws that shift the burdens away from victims, in cases of negligence or recklessness.

About the Founders of SSNBreach.org

About Aaron Titus

Aaron is a Washington, DC-based privacy advocate. When he's not working full-time as a Program Manager for a non-profit in Alexandria, VA, he attends law school at George Washington University, specializing in Information Privacy Law. Aaron is also the host of The Privacy Podcast, Free Space, and several Construction Industry Podcasts. He also writes and blogs about privacy at Because I am Here, and has had privacy articles published by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and PogoWasRight.org.

About the Liberty Coalition

The Coalition is dedicated to upholding and protecting our basic rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to accomplish our task, we seek to protect those freedoms as articulated in the Bill of Rights. We base our concerns on the fundamental values and principles of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, particularly the separation of powers and federalism, and Bill of Rights.

The Liberty CoalitionThe Liberty Coalition works to help organize, support, and coordinate transpartisan public policy activities related to civil liberties and basic human rights. We work in conjunction with groups of partner organizations that are interested in preserving the Bill of Rights, personal autonomy and individual privacy.