Arizona Department of Economic Security Data Breach

Thousands of parents in the Phoenix area are worried about their children’s information being used in identity theft practices. This is because hard drives were stolen from the Department of Economic Security’s storage unit last month.

The information on these hard drives is invaluable. With the information of almost 40,000 children in their “Early Intervention Program,” these hard drives contain several years of data, and the personal—and medical—information of the children enrolled. This is thought to include names, home addresses, medical insurance information, disability information, date of birth and Social Security numbers.

The thieves broke into the public storage unit that housed the DES’s back-up files. Fortunately, the DES stated that the hard drives were password protection, so the probability of the information being accessed is fairly low. Regardless, families affected have been notified. No arrests have been made at this time. Identity theft protection for children can be purchased through LifeLock for $22.50/year if you have a membership or through Debix at $20/year. TrustedID only offers child identity protection as part of their family plan.

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