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EDS to pay for printing social security numbers
Last week up to 260,000 Medicaid, BadgerCare and SeniorCare participants in Wisconsin received a brochure that had something extra on the address label--their social security numbers. As a consequence, the company responsible for the mailing, Electronic Data Systems (EDS) says it will offer those affected free identity theft insurance and credit monitoring with all three credit bureaus for one year. EDS says the monitoring plus the cost of resending the brochure will cost the company nearly $1 million.
A letter detailing the insurance and monitoring programs will be sent out next week. Affected customers will have 90 days to sign up for the protection.
An article by the Associated Press states, "the mistake was the result of human error. It occurred when data fields were merged to create the address label for the mailing done on behalf of the state Department of Children and Family Services to provide information about the state's new BadgerCare Plus program."
EDS has a $32 million contract with the state of Wisconsin. Over the last 30 years, the company has a flawless track record with Medicaid-related services in the state.
As CNET's resident security expert, Robert Vamosi has been interviewed on the BBC, CNN, MSNBC, and other outlets to share his knowledge about the latest online threats and to offer advice on personal and corporate security. Listen to his podcast at securitybites.cnet.com or e-mail Robert with your questions and comments. 
to them by companies eager to get rid of their IT departments.
They're often disgruntled and jaded. I know. I was one of them.
When I worked for them, we said that EDS stood for "Every Day
Sucks" - now every day is gonna suck for the thousands of
people they exposed to identity theft. Why is EDS even given
access to this data? Why did the state "outsource" this portion of
their database? All they should have been entitled to is name and
address, if they were preparing mailers. Government agencies
and business are way to careless with people's personal
information. There really is no earthly reason for these
companies to have people's social security numbers. They're not
the IRS, and they're not their employer. Those should be the
only people entitled to someone's social security number.
PERIOD.