State of Wisconsin Accidentally Releases Social Security Numbers
Many Wisconsin residents who sold their homes last year are receiving ominous looking letters from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR). The letters warn that the DOR is “taking precautions to protect confidential information pertaining to your 2011 real estate sale.” Specifically, the state inadvertently included social security numbers in sales data that is routinely posted on their website. This data is intended for use by appraisers and Realtors to track property sales and values. The information remained on the site from April 5 through July 23, 2012 and only related to 2011 real estate sales.
The data was included in an embedded file (it was not readily apparent or readable) and was only downloaded 138 times. The State insists that there is no sign that criminals accessed the information. “We have a responsibility to protect the sellers who had their personal information included in the report, and we have reached out to the real estate and appraiser organizations to contact their members to destroy the file. We know the individuals who downloaded this file are using it for their own business purposes and have no malicious intent, yet we will be offering free credit monitoring for a year for the individuals who may have been impacted by this situation,” said Secretary Richard G. Chandler.
The DOR has been mailing letters to sellers that may have been impacted and offering them one year of free credit monitoring. Sellers can also contact the DOR directly at 888-947-3452 or realestate@wisconsin.gov.
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