Ga. Secretary of State May Face Data Breach Battle Across U.S.

By TIM DARNELL (Patch Staff)

The alleged data breach now facing Georgia’s Secretary of State may involve voters across the United States.

Personal information such as Social Security numbers and other data may have been released from voters who resided in Georgia at the time of their registration, but have since moved to other states, reports the political blog Peach Pundit.

Georgia’s Voter File doesn’t purge voters unless they notify the government of their move, meaning there could be thousands of voters impacted by the data breach who no longer live in the Peach State.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office is accused of releasing Social Security numbers and other private information of more than 6 million Georgians to the media, political organizations and other institutions.

A lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Fulton County Superior Court by two Georgia women.

The suit alleges Kemp’s office released the information to subscribers who legally buy voter information from the state. It also says Kemp has failed to notify those individuals that their personal information may have been compromised.

The alleged breach would be one of the largest ever by a state.