Passport Snooping - Are You next?

Your social security number could be in jeopardy. Under the present system, you won't know it unless you happen to be running for President.

The news that low level people in the State Department were able to access the Passport information of all three remaining Presidential candidates(including that all valuable social security number), raises a bigger question.

Have these State Department contractors (whoever they are) also accessed celebrity Passports? If low level people can access files of the few running for President, then is anyone's information safe? What if these employees were accessing files in order to pass social security numbers to criminal elements--for ID theft purposes? Could the State Department's system allow for political abuse of the system?

The State Department protection software doesn't keep people from accessing these files; it only notifies ("flags") access of files of high profile persons after its happened, like Presidential candidates. If you are not a "high profile" person, then there is no notification. That would make the State Department a great place for ID theft by people hired by the State Department.

An investigation of the State Department's security system for passports (and any government agency that possesses peoples' social security numbers) is in order.

If not, your information could be accessed by some contract employee at the State Department or another government agency that has the same valuable social security information -- and if you are not a Presidential candidate, no one will know about it.