Jul 20, 2007 7:52 am US/Central
Troy Aikman's SSN, Others Found On State Web Site
AUSTIN (AP) ―
A California businessman dug up Troy Aikman's Social Security number on the Texas Secretary of State's Web site to focus attention on the vulnerability of personal information on the site.
Steven D. Peisner, president of SellitSAFE.com, said his search of business documents on the "SOSDirect" site revealed other personal info of the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and more Social Security numbers.
Peisner's company works to protect companies from fraud related to identity theft.
"All of the citizens whose Social Security information is available online -- they are all potential victims of identity theft," Peisner said. "You don't have to go into a garbage dumpster and get your hands dirty and sift through the trash to get somebody's identity."
Aikman's Uniform Commercial Code financing statement no longer showed his Social Security number by Thursday.
Ashley Burton, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Phil Wilson, said a number had been listed but was removed. She didn't know whether the number was correct.
Peisner said he notified Aikman's foundation that the information was publicly available.
Aikman's executive assistant, Faye Donovan, said Aikman was aware that the number was listed and "it was his understanding the information would be removed."
Burton said the office began in 2005 to remove Social Security numbers from newly filed public documents, such as corporation filings, trademarks or federal tax lines.
But an unknown number of documents filed with the office before 2005 -- dating back to the 1800s -- are accessible online and still contain Social Security numbers, she said.
"We're actively working to remove the sensitive information," Burton said, adding that people can contact the office to have the information removed from their documents.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an opinion holding local officials responsible for redacting Social Security numbers from all government records accessible to the public.
Lawmakers then changed the law because of concerns over possible delays in home and commercial real estate transactions. The new law allowed the numbers' disclosure without liability to the clerks. It also allowed people to request that their numbers be blocked.
Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, said the bill was meant to accommodate daily business at courthouses, but didn't solve questions about security and public records.
"That's one of those great questions," said Keffer, the bill's author. "How do we deal with it in today's business climate, and also with today's facts of life as far as people using it for criminal intent?"
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