About 3,500 firearms instructors residing in California had their personal information compromised last October, and the state is saying that the information was released “accidentally.”
The personal info was released as part of the response to a Southern California Public Radio (KPCC) reporter’s Freedom of Information Act request. The group was requesting pertinent information on state Firearms Safety Certifications.
The compromised information included dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and California identification numbers. In December 2016, the California Department of Justice informed the instructors of this breach by mail, about two months after the information was first released.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris warned the instructors to place a fraud alert on their credit to stop any identity theft that could inadvertently occur. However, the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action is demanding answers about why it took so long for the instructors to be notified.
“This privacy breach is just another example of the California Department of Justice’s disregard for the rights of gun owners. There’s no reason why the private information of firearms instructors should have been released – the DOJ redacts information all the time,” said NRA-ILA’s Jennifer Baker.
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