Breaking: The California agency tasked with distributing unemployment, disability and parental leave benefits routinely puts recipients at risk for identity theft, according to a state audit.
The state Employment Development Department said it will begin working on plans to remove highly sensitive information from most of the forms sent to customers' homes. Above, a letter carrier in 2011.
Former Assemblywoman Catharine Baker , who helped push for the audit last year, said auditors were right to point out that waiting five years was not good enough. Baker said that waiting for the agency to upgrade its computer system was particularly problematic given the state’s poor track record with technology projects, which have routinely come in late, over-budget and riddled with problems.
“I’m sorry that it took an independent audit to point out something that is fairly obvious,” Baker said Thursday. “The EDD is committed to protecting the personal information of Californians, including their Social Security numbers,” he said.
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