On April 2, 2024, I received a letter from Delta Dental stating that they "experienced a data security incident". The breach occurred May 27th and 30th in 2023, was discovered June 1, 2023, confirmed July 6, 2023 and they determine that my personal information "was affected" November 27, 2023. Despite being aware of the breach June 1, 2023, Delta Dental failed to notify me (and its other members I'm sure) of the incident until April 2, 2024; more than10 months after the incident and five months after confirming my information had been accessed.

This is not an isolated case, I personally have received letters from four different companies in the last 6 years informing me my information had been accessed, as have other members of my family, and it's not a single company or category of companies, it's across the board. Every day millions of individuals fall victim to similar breaches due to lax security measures by companies entrusted with their sensitive data. Doctors, hospitals, urgent care facilities, credit card agencies, credit reporting agencies, insurance agencies, banks, educational institutions and retail companies all require this information to provide services, and yet they fail to take necessary steps to protect that information. According to Risk Based Security research in their annual report (2019), over fifteen billion records were exposed as a result of data breaches in just one year. 

The companies and agencies who have had data breaches offer victims "credit monitoring" for a couple years and recommend freezing credit report access to safeguard against fraudulent credit applications. What these businesses fail to tell you is that freezing your credit report access doesn't prevent identity fraud, it only prevents thieves from opening up major credit sources in your name. Criminals can, and have, used stolen identities in other ways that result in unimaginable monetary and personal damages to the victims of identity theft. 

Imagine opening a letter from the IRS claiming you own them $250,000.00 in unpaid taxes and penalties 8 years after your information was stolen. The real perpetrators of the tax fraud used your name, date of birth and SS# on job applications and when filing any W-2, elected to not have Federal taxes taken out of their pay claiming they prefer to put that money in the bank and earn interest on it throughout the year before giving it to the IRS when they do their tax return... but they never file a tax return and are long gone by the time any of this becomes known to the victim, and that's just the beginning of what they can, and have, done. 

The perpetrators of such crimes rent apartments and homes using stolen identities, of course they don't pay the rent and there are no repercussions for them when they destroy the property because it isn't their information on the rental contract. Imagine one evening after work you decide to take a look in on your safely frozen credit report and to your horror you discover there are 4 different judgements by the courts in 4 different towns/states against you totaling $55,000.00 "for unpaid rent and damages in addition to attorney fees and court costs."  You think freezing your credit report access and having a company monitor your credit account is going to protect you? Think again. Neither you nor the company monitoring your credit is going to know what has happened until after it's already happened.

And what happens when one of these identity thieves gets pulled over for speeding and then arrested for driving under the influence? Do you think they are going to cooperate and give law enforcement their information? Of course not, they will say they lost their driver's license and give law enforcement your name and SS# in place of their own and six months later you receive notice from your insurance that they have cancelled your coverage due to having 3 DUIs on your record.

It literally takes YEARS to fix identity theft issues and during all those years you're making phone call after phone call to attorneys, the courts in the towns/states that have placed judgements on your credit report and the law enforcement agencies who have warrants out for your arrest for failure to appear, and all the while the IRS is breathing down your neck and freezing your assets.

It is not a minor issue when a company or agency has a data breach despite the placating and minimizing language used in their letters informing you "you're information has been affected." 

The current protocol of companies offering free credit monitoring for a couple of years is simply not effective enough to put a stop to the lax and ineffective practices regarding their client and customers' information and this must stop NOW!

The time has come for stricter regulations regarding client data protection. We are calling for severe penalties to be levied on every company or agency who experiences a data breach and has failed to protect their clients' information. These penalties need to include significant monetary recompense paid to every individual whose information was affected as well as a considerable fine paid to the Federal Trade Commission. If we do not take action to force companies to make protecting our sensitive information their number 1 priority, they will continue to experience "data breaches" and everyday citizens will end up paying the price.

 Let's make our voices heard; sign this petition today!