Jeanne Price reports:
Some data breach notifications just jump off the page and scream, “Details, please!” Such is the case for Record Assist LLC of Houston, Texas, which appears to provide expedited copies of vital records. Birth certificates, to be precise.
As any data security writer can tell you, certified birth certificates should be treated like gold. In the wrong hands, they’ll cause big trouble and probably identity theft. Record Assist revealed a data breach to at least three state attorneys general – California, Vermont and New Hampshire. Information about Record Assist is tough to come by but all three letters indicate the company operates expressvitals.com, an online records ordering service.
Read more on idRADAR. According to Record Assist’s notification letter to California residents, the incident
may have resulted in unauthorized access to information obtained from you during a recent order, including your name, address, credit card number, security code, and social security number.
There’s no indication that birth certificates or vital records individuals may have ordered were compromised, but if people are ordering birth certificates through the site, they are also required to provide their gender and date of birth, as well as the father’s and mother’s name. So was that information in the database that was hacked or not?
In Ohio anyone can pay a fee and get a certified copy of a birth certificate for anyone. I needed a replacement and a buddy who works in downtown Cleveland offered to get it for me. He came back with it and I paid him and that was it.