Lawmakers spring to save ID theft services for OPM breach victims, with expiration looming
Federal lawmakers are pushing to extend identity theft protection services for victims of the 2015 Office of Personnel Management data breach before those services expire next month. Senator Mark Warner and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton are seeking to make the protections permanent for the millions of current and former federal employees affected.
Why this matters: The OPM breach exposed some of the most sensitive personal data the government holds — background investigation files, fingerprints, financial histories, foreign contacts. People did not choose to hand that over. The government collected it as a condition of federal employment. A decade later, that exposure does not stop being dangerous. Identity theft risk from a breach like this does not have an expiration date, and neither should the protection owed to the people affected.
Who should care: Cybersecurity · Privacy officers · Administrators
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