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California Data Leak Larger Than Initially Believed
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is “deeply disturbed and angered” at the fact a data leak that took place on Monday, June 29th is much larger than originally thought.
It was initially presumed that the names, dates of birth, sex, driver’s license numbers, addresses, and criminal history of current concealed carry permit holders were exposed.
It has now come to light that such information regarding anybody who has been granted or denied a weapons permit, between the years of 2011 and 2021, was breached. Additionally, data on the Assault Weapon Registry, Handguns Certified for Sale, Dealer Record of Sale, Firearm Safety Certificate, and Gun Violence Restraining Order dashboards were impacted.
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A DOJ investigation was immediately launched, and authorities are determining whether personal identity information from these portals was leaked. This breach occurred when the DOJ updated their firearms dashboard portal.
When issuing concealed carry permits, law enforcement must collect personal information on permit holders and relay it to the DOJ. This information is meant to be kept private in the portal.
According to a statement by the California State Sheriff’s Association, “it appears that before the breach was detected by DOJ, the information was copied and at least some portion of it posted to the internet.”
This data was made public for under 24 hours. The California Pistol and Rifle Association responded with immediate blowback over the data leak. The demand an independent investigation with full transparency. Additionally, they urge the DOJ to not restore the portal until it is certain that no more data can possibly be breached.
Furthermore, the DOJ must strike a delicate balance between “its duties to provide gun violence and firearms data to support research efforts while protecting the personal identifying information in the data that the Department collects and maintains.”
