Robb Hays reports:
A large trash bag filled with copies of dozens of social security cards, bank records, birth certificates and other confidential documents was discovered by a passerby on a downtown Baton Rouge street and delivered to the 9NEWS I-TEAM.
The paperwork appears to be connected to applicants for various forms of public assistance. The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services has called a 4:30pm news conference to discuss the possible security breach.
Read more on WAFB.
Following the press conference, Associated Press reported:
Two state employees with the Department of Children and Family Services were suspended Monday after documents with personal information, including social security numbers, were found blowing down a Baton Rouge street, improperly discarded in a trash can instead of shredded.
Department Secretary Ruth Johnson said the security breach appeared to be limited to the social services office in north Baton Rouge that handles food stamp, welfare and child care assistance cases. The employees — the office manager and an area director — were suspended with pay pending an investigation.
[…]
Paperwork with 67 different people’s personal information was found blowing down the street, collected and turned over to a local TV station, which contacted Johnson’s agency. Johnson said additional trash bags of documents were found in a trash bin behind the DCFS office.
Read more on The Republic.