# Kiss off my personal info, the government! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 22, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiss-off-my-personal-info-the-government/474001 "2008-11-22T16:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiss-off-my-personal-info-the-government/474001/1 "2008-11-22T16:26:00Z")
I received a letter today (22 Nov) from my Defense Department employer about a security breach where they accidentally sent out **by email** my: Name, SSN, Pay Plan, Job Series, Grade Level, Command I work for, Unit Address, and some other trivial data. They broadcast the email with the info on 8 September. Composed the letter to me on or about 20 October, and it got to me in Iraq today. WTF! **I got violated by email; they couldn’t notify me by email???** Yeah, the email supposedly went to mostly .mil accounts but I know how well some of these people protect themselves. They passed some good info on how to secure my credit accounts 3 and 1/2 months later. I’ve checked and all appears to be well but I’m still pissed. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiss-off-my-personal-info-the-government/474001/2 "2008-11-22T17:04:02Z")
“Kiss off?” Man, you sound upset. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jaglavak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jaglavak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaglavak)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiss-off-my-personal-info-the-government/474001/3 "2008-11-22T22:49:23Z")
Man, that sucks. I go to great lengths to protect myself from ID thieves, and this would have me pink with purple spots. Double shitty since it sounds like you’re over there serving our country when you should be back here partying hearty. Thank you, by the way. My pet peeve is the stinkin national census. Last time I got picked to fill out one of the more detailed surveys. They wanted the account number and balance on my bank and brokerage accounts. They wanted how much was in my wallet. They wanted all the addresses I’ve ever lived at. They wanted everything but a sperm sample. Of course I could absolutely trust that all this info would be held in strictest confidence,. Except for any government fuck or university researcher who wanted to know, that is. Oh, and there might be the occasional teeny little data breach. Other than that it was all good. I wonder if they’ll hit me again in 2010? Fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiss-off-my-personal-info-the-government/474001/4 "2008-11-23T01:36:50Z")
> [@Jaglavak](#): > > Last time I got picked to fill out one of the more detailed surveys. They wanted the account number and balance on my bank and brokerage accounts. They wanted how much was in my wallet. They wanted all the addresses I’ve ever lived at. They wanted everything but a sperm sample. Uh, are you sure that was the US Census? Because nothing on the [long form](http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d-61b.pdf) (PDF) asks about account numbers, balances, wallet contents, or addresses more than one address ago. There are plenty of questions about income, though. As if the IRS doesn’t bug us enough. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiss-off-my-personal-info-the-government/474001/5 "2008-11-23T03:27:07Z")
That was my question, too, **friedo** - I wouldn’t be answering any questions about my bank account numbers, and I really don’t think my government would be asking me. To the OP - yeah, that sucks. You’d think they could whip off a quick email after they screwed up like that.