SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) –The Illinois Department of Corrections says preliminary findings suggest human error was to blame for the inadvertent release of social security numbers and other personal information of more than 1,000 agency employees.
The Social Security Numbers were included in documents that were not redacted before being released in response to a private citizen’s Freedom of Information Act Request.
The FOIA request was made on behalf of an inmate seeking names, ranks and salaries of staff at the Dixon and Lawrence Correctional Centers.
The department said Friday that the data breach was only discovered after the person who made the FOIA request mailed the documents to the inmate.
Mailroom staff intercepted the package during a routine inspection of incoming mail.
The department says it’s conducting an audit of its FOIA unit.
