• HideTV Updates Coming Monday

    HideTV will be down on Monday for updates. We'll let you all know as soon as it's back up and message @alexj-12 with any questions!

  • Win an RIX Storm S3 Thermal Imaging Scope!

    To enter, all you need to do is add an image of yourself at the range below! Subscribers get more entries, check out the plans below for a better chance of winning!

    Join the contest Subscribe

National Public Data Breach - Over 2 Billion Records

Ichi

Major Hide Member
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 1, 2022
1,397
3,788
Texas
I recently received a notice in the mail that my Health Equity HSA account data was compromised. In the list of possible information was SSN, but they don't tell you exactly what was breached

I should be able to sue them for not protecting my data, but we all know that is a joke. My data been stolen no less than 12 times since 2001 (that I am aware of, I am sure there are a bunch I am not aware of)

The system, from every possible angle, is rigged against the normal working man...
 
IMO, anybody who thinks their personal information isn’t alive and well on the dark web is sadly mistaken.
Very true. For many years, the US Army used your SSN as your ID and had you write it on everything, including your issued clothing.

Several schools and colleges used your SSN as your student ID.

Some states would use your SSN as your driver's license number.
 
You're right. I should have said records not SSNs. But who knows what "records" really means.

Using myself as an example, the dataset included all my addresses going back to my freshman year at college about three decades ago. So there's a dozen or so records; multiply that out by a few hundred million individuals and you get into the billions of records pretty quickly.
 
Very true. For many years, the US Army used your SSN as your ID and had you write it on everything, including your issued clothing.

Several schools and colleges used your SSN as your student ID.

Some states would use your SSN as your driver's license number.
In the 90's, Iron Brigade Armory wrote a volume of books called "Death From Afar: Marine Corps Sniping V. 1-5". In it they posted photos of dude's scout-sniper basic course diplomas with their SSN's on there! Back then probably not that big of a deal....now that we're in the digital age, I'm sure those guys are pissed. I know one of them, and I think he's even a member here. smdh
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ichi
You're right. I should have said records not SSNs. But who knows what "records" really means.
We can’t know for sure, but for this type of thing, a record typically just means any piece of data in a dataset. First name. Last name. Middle initial, etc.

I’d assume it contains partial sets of data for pretty much every American and likely millions of non-Americans as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ichi
Until there are real penalties for data breaches this shit will continue. Also, any new laws need to apply to the Public Sector as well because while Private Sector Information Security is pretty crappy the government is next level incompetent.
It's beyond time for this. A "free" year or 2 of credit monitoring is not any form of repayment for someone else's fuck up with my personal info. Once it's out there, it's out there forever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Franko