Herbert again involved in release of voter information – after protecting his own

Once again, Utah Governor Gary Herbert has demonstrated a callous disregard for the personal information of others.  This time just one person, gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Johnson, is the victim rather than millions of Utah citizens as in past cases.  

Over the years, Herbert has consistently failed to protect the personal information of millions of Utah including tens of thousands of innocent Utah children who are the victims of job-related identity theft (ongoing);  the release of the 280,000 Social Security numbers and other less sensitive personal identifying information of an additional 500,000 Utahns from state Medicaid and CHIP records (March 2012) and perhaps most egregiously, Herbert and his administration refused to protect the voter registration records of 1.5 million Utahn’s and allowed them to be posted on line in late 2013 – after removing his, his spouse’s, and his cronies’ records.  Note:  Interestingly the records posted online in late 2013 show that Jonathan Johnson registered as a Republican in  2000 and again in 2011.   

So when the Herbert campaign is accused of complicity in the release and subsequent posting of Jonathan Johnson’s personal identifying information to the internet, it is fully consistent with Herbert’s long history of total disdain for the personal information of Utah citizens—except for himself, his family and his cronies’.   

Does a governor who shows such disregard for the personal identifying information of Utah’s citizens really deserve another four years in office?   

How would you hold a private business leader who consistently oversaw the release of your personal identifying information accountable?  

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Releases of personal information under the Herbert administration since 2010 include the following:

·         Continuously. The state of Utah sells the Utah Voter Data base with the personal information of 1.5 million Utah voters to anyone willing to pay $1,050. Information sold includes a registered voter’s name, address, phone number, voter registration number, party affiliation, voting history, etc.  Financial institutions, health care providers, insurance companies, political parties, candidates and other select groups or their agents may obtain voter lists that contain all of the previous information plus the registered voters’ full birth date (month/day/year).

·         July 2010. A list containing the personal information of 1,300 people believed to be illegal aliens was released by Utah Workforce Service employees. "Release of such private, sensitive information is deplorable," Gov. Gary Herbert said in a news release according to CNN.

·         March 30, 2012. An estimated 780,000 Utahns covered by Medicaid or thought to be eligible for Medicaid along with those enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Plan had personal information stolen by hackers in Eastern Europe who were able to access the Utah Department of Technology Service's server. Information taken included names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers, etc. Herbert was quoted by the Salt Lake Tribune as saying: "As a state government we have failed to honor that commitment [to protect Utah families and their personal data]," he said. "For that, as your governor and as a Utahn, I am deeply sorry." In spite of this, Herbert continued to support the sale of the voter data base, minus his personal information, even though it had most of the same information on it.

·         January 2013. The Utah Health Department revealed that a USB memory stick with 6,000 Medicaid recipients’ protected health information (PHI) was reported lost by a third party contractor.

·         December 6, 2013. Up to 97,000 Utahns receiving training funds, unemployment insurance and payroll from Utah’s Workforce Services may have had their personal information compromised due to a data breach. The compromised data includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, UCard numbers, passwords, logins and security questions.

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