EPA FOIA Portal Inadvertently Releases Social Security Numbers

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) portal maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency accidentally released personal information to the public, including Social Security numbers. The leak, originally discovered and reported by CNN, affected the FOIAonline.gov portal, which serves multiple agencies.  CNN reported that “at least” 80 Social Security numbers were released. “The EPA is aware and working with partner agencies to remediate an issue with the FOIAonline 3.0 system,” the EPA confirmed in a statement to MeriTalk. “EPA will follow the Agency’s Breach procedures to evaluate the situation further and take the appropriate mitigation measures.”