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Florida warns that 4.9 million people had Social Security numbers leaked in financial aid site breach

The Record · · International · Data Breaches

Florida's Department of Education disclosed a breach of its student financial aid website that exposed the Social Security numbers of approximately 4.9 million people. The agency said it learned of the incident on October 19.

Why this matters: Nearly 5 million people handed their Social Security numbers to a state government website because they had to. That is not a choice — it is a requirement for getting financial aid. When the government mandates your most sensitive identifier and then fails to protect it, the harm is real and long-lasting. A leaked Social Security number can follow someone for years. The state collected this data. The state owed people serious security in return. Someone needs to answer for whether that standard was met.

Who should care: Cybersecurity · Privacy officers · Administrators

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