INADVERTENT RELEASE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

DOS providing free credit monitoring services

TALLAHASSEE –

The Florida Department of State, Bureau of Archives and Records Management, preserves Florida's permanent historical records and makes them available to the public.  Among those records made available to the public are copies of emails sent to and received from former Governor Jeb Bush during his tenure in office. Unfortunately, certain confidential information was contained within the emails obtained by members of the public who requested them.

Individuals potentially affected by this inadvertent disclosure of confidential information, which was released as part of recent public records requests, include approximately 13,000 persons on a wait list for developmental disability health care services from 2003, whose names, dates of birth, and social security numbers were included in an email.

Individuals who believe their personal information may have been released may contact: (850) 245-6068

Potentially affected individuals also may wish to review their credit history for any potential fraudulent or suspicious activities they have not authorized. To protect themselves from the possibility of identity theft, they may also place a free fraud alert on their credit files.  A fraud alert notifies creditors to contact individuals before opening new accounts in their name. Individuals can call any one of the three major credit reporting agencies at the numbers below to place a fraud alert on their credit files and may obtain a free credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com

Experian - 1-888-397-3742

Equifax - 1-888-766-0008

TransUnion - 1-800-680-7289

Additionally, the Department of State has arranged to have LifeLock provide identity theft protection for one year to each individual whose social security information was released as a consequence of this inadvertent disclosure. If you believe your social security information was released, you may call: (850) 245-6068. If your social security information was released, you will receive instructions on how to take advantage of the LifeLock service at no cost to you.

###