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City offers free identity theft protection to voters
Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 2:18pm
Metro Nashville is contracting with Debix Identity Protection Network to provide citizens effected by the recent theft of two Davidson County Election Commission laptops a full year of identity theft coverage for free, according to Mayor Karl Dean’s office.
Voters will receive a letter containing detailed instructions on how to enroll with Debix no later than next week, according to the Mayor’s office and an enrollment form and activation code will be included.
The laptops were stolen Dec. 23 and contained the complete Social Security numbers of 337,000 registered Davidson County voters.
Continue checking The City Paper for updates.
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That's nice but paying for it with our own tax dollars is no different from paying for it out of our pockets. It should come out of someone's salary instead.
It is better to wait until we see if anything happens rather then throw millions down the drain.Why haven't they put out a reward for the computers?Slurpass only knows how to write tickets.
Hey but if we pull enough people over for speeding or the thousand other random traffic violations that no one has ever heard of, the laptops might just be in one of the cars!!
Well, this just gives Dean the green light to raise the property taxes he said he wouldn't. He's got a great big crutch to lean on now. That's just lovely.
Dean never said he wouldn't raise the property taxes. Bob Clement said that. Dean refused to.
with all the voter fraud that seems to be happening across the nation in recent years this is an alarming development.and as one whose ssn is now in the hands of a theif it's all the more alarming.
Thank goodness WE have to approve any tax increase.
Send the bill to Wackenhut Security.
what they'll do is post ads on the Net, then offer partial numbers..... buyers/bidders will make contact, then purchase individual or blocks of numbers at a time. Also, you surely must realize that the illegal immigration rings use these numbers as well. It's the biggest racket in the USA now. And if someone commits a crime w/your ss#.... sucks to be you. You can never get it removed from your record. After all, they are now you. Speaking as a former PC geek, this has been going on for more than a decade. It's just more readily available now. Good luck.... seriously.
I'm actually not that concerned about it. When you think about it, what are the chances that YOUR SSN will be chosen out of 337,000 for the thieves to attempt to use? They obviously can't possibly use all 337,000.They'll probably pick based on the addresses (since that information was apparently in the laptops as well). I'd be a bit concerned if I had a Green Hills or Belle Meade zip code, as those would be seen as the highest potential credit thefts.
Give us some heads on a platter.Not just the security guard.
I know some people living on Franklin Pk who go down to Mexico, bring back women to work on their estate.... these women (and later their families) can purchase false ID's over on Nolensville Rd any day of the week. Those numbers are real numbers..... and it happens every day. Each number generated is someone else's nightmare. Still think "amnesty" is a good idea?
wickedtribe, to answer your question about the chances of them picking your SSN out of 337,000 SSN's, the chances are roughly about 1/337,000...
Wickedtribe-- I think I might like having my identity stolen. They can have my social, my paycheck, and my $134,000 student loan debt! (plus interest!)
So to all you anti-government "conservatives" here, let's take a look at the overall picture:A contractor from your vaunted "private sector" screwed up big time and now the government (Metro) has to bail everyone out.Not only that, but from a procedural and a p.r. point of view, the government has done everything right. They've notified the public and been completely transparent about what's happened, they've sent letters to every voter notifying them of the crime and what they can do to protect themselves, and now they are taking even more steps to ensure protection by offering free identity theft to those affected. Perfect score. The private sector... they've failed miserably. Wackenhut allowed a break-in and theft, they'd been warned about a broken window and ignored it, and they still refuse to take responsibility by picking up the costs to the voters. Pathetic. I hope the city fires Wackenhut (like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission did when their guards got caught on tape sleeping on the job) and sues the crap out of them to recoup all costs to the taxpayer.See what happens when we sell to the lowest bidder?The moral of the story: Government works when the right (read: liberals) are running it.Kudos to the Davidson County Election Commission and the Dean Administration for dealing with this in the best possible manner. And shame on the anti-unionists at Wackenhut for screwing up and not stepping up.
Wrong-o, Buck-o..... had the data been sufficiently incripted (duh, like most privately-help corporations treat your info now) we wouldn't have to be sweating this one. My sons could get that info, as most people under the age of 40 can verify. Without incription, a child can manage to pull the data. If you'd watched the evening news the other night, you'd also know that other Metro departments have your data on file..... and it isn't incripted there either. Granted, awarding the lowest bidder isn't the answer either, but the blame goes both directions this time. It's time everyone became educated about basic services. Too bad this one will be so costly.
Whats done is done... sad to say though the city is offering us Debix Identity Protection??? These guys are not even ranked as a superior service when it comes to identity theft protection and to me it seems we should have the best!! I mean its not like the crooks that took these laptops were taking them to play MS Hearts or MINESWEEPER ( I enjoy this game lol), but they took these specific laptops for a reason!Looks like the "lowest bidder" syndrome strikes again (Debix). For a list & ranking of TOP identity theft providers check out this website. Protect yourself- the government won't protect you (isn't it obvious?)http://www.nextadvisor.com/identity_theft_prevention_services/compare.php
Another fine example of the incompetence of government. Most government employees are lazy overpaid underworked airheads who are on the taxpayer payroll because the private sector won't hire them. Unfortunatle my occupation requires me to deal with government almost on a daily basis. This computer theft doesn't surprise me one bit. It's just business as usually in the government.
Another fine example of the incompetence of government. Most government employees are lazy overpaid underworked airheads who are on the taxpayer payroll because the private sector won't hire them. Unfortunatle my occupation requires me to deal with government almost on a daily basis. This computer theft doesn't surprise me one bit. It's just business as usually in the government.