The California Department of Justice (DOJ) “inadvertently” released highly sensitive personal information—names, birthdates, driver’s license numbers and more—about some 3,424 Certified California Firearm Safety Instructors late last year after a National Public Radio reporter filed a Freedom of Information request, Fox News reports.
Since many instructors are active or retired law enforcement officers who wish to protect their privacy—and since this breach opens the door to identity theft—the California DOJ sent letters urging instructors to place fraud alerts on their credit reports. Although the DOJ supposedly discovered the foul-up on October 27, it waited over two months to alert those affected.
Adding insult to injury, California’s DOJ also recently submitted “assault weapon” regulations containing a “non-liability” clause, forcing gun owners to hold the DOJ harmless in case of a similar “inadvertent” data breach. In other words: If you want to exercise your gun rights, you’ve got to surrender your privacy rights. Outrageous.
