HACK BRIEF: FEMA LEAKED THE DATA OF 2.3 MILLION DISASTER SURVIVORS

AFTER BEING DISPLACED by a natural disaster, survivors have a lot of pressing concerns. They may be dealing with health impacts, displacement, loss of property, and even grieving the deaths of loved ones. Through all of this, though, one worry that is probably not in their minds is the question of whether their personal data is safe with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Unfortunately, what should be a given is apparently another burden to add to an already painfully long list.

On Friday, FEMA publicly acknowledged a Homeland Security Department Office of the Inspector General report that the emergency response agency wrongly shared personal data from 2.3 million disaster survivors with a temporary-housing-related contractor. In doing so, the agency violated the Privacy Act of 1974 and Department of Homeland Security policy, and exposed survivors to identity theft.

https://www.wired.com/story/fema-leaked-the-data-2-million-disaster-survivors/