ALERT: Permit Holders in Berks County

[SigForLife]

Sheriff Jozwiack determined yesterday that our social security numbers, and other such info, for a large portion of permit holders, was available to be accessed by anyone on the net. They know of atleast two people in the U.S. and one from China who accessed the site. Apparently Cannon was making an internal software program, which the Berk's County Sheriff's Office had given them permit holder's info for, and Cannon negligently allowed the outside world to be able to view/gainaccess/ and possibly even add entires. It is in the Reading Eagle. I have it scanned if you need a copy.

[rev214]

here's the website for the artice:

http://www.readingeagle.com/re/lead/1565097.asp

[John C]

Off topic a bit but does Jozwiac still require 2 references from Berks County residents?

John C

[ChamberedRound]

Well this is just great.

What I want to know is: did the Sheriff's Office have the right to disseminate the information to a third party? I don't care if Canon was doing work for them or not, I don't think they were allowed to do this.

It's one thing to give them access; it another thing to give them a copy.

[billy870m9]

so what are we supposed to do now????? they sound tell every person whos info was leaked out, so that we can take action for saving our id and credit

[SigForLife]

I went to ZanderInsurance.com and for $72 a year or $140 per family you get Identity Theft protection. It is worthwhile in my opinion...

[ChamberedRound]

Dan, why was this moved to the Bucks country thread as opposed to Berks?

UPDATE, 9/11/06: Dan, thanks for moving this to the correct county's forum.

[ChamberedRound]

I called the Sheriff's Office today, and asked about the situation regarding Canon and LTC holders. The woman I spoke with in the office was very informative, and provided as much information on the situation as she could. Basically, I was able to get the following:

- Confirmed the item in the Reading Eagle article that the list given to Canon was only a partial list.
- Confirmed the item in the Reading Eagle article that the partial list provided was about a year old, and no other information was provided to Canon beyond that time.
- People affected will be notified by mail. Canon is supposed to provide information to the Sheriff's Office this week, so I believe notification is coming from the Sheriff's Office itself.
- If you call the Sheriff's Office directly and speak with them (as I did), they will take your name and number and additionally call you back if you're on the list, if you'd like them to contact you via phone.
- If you receive no notification of any kind, then you're not one of the people on the list of affected people. However, I was encouraged to call to confirm this if there's any concern on my part, so I would tell everyone else to do the same if there's any doubt in your mind.

Hope it helps. BTW, here's the website for the sheriff's office; their phone number is on the home page:

http://www.co.berks.pa.us/sheriff/site/default.asp

Hope it helps, and good luck to all.

[jack76590]

If your social security number has been compromised I would call your elected federal representatives - there are some laws on the books, I am not sure of specifics. Also call the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) Link

http://www.vcdl.org/

There was a situation when Virginia shall issue law passed and Fairfax County did all sorts of stuff to stop implementation and make it tough to get permit. One thing they did was let press photograph people applying we held up social security number under their face for picture. Some of these pictures with social security number were published. VCDL sued the county. I am not sure of outcome, but I would give them a call as they have a lot of experience dealing with these types of local elected officials. And remember Sheriffs are ELECTED OFFICIALS. And often few people vote in local sheriffs election. Therefore, if we organize and post when sheriff elections are held- on this website for instance - we may have an impact.


Perhaps a section that notified members of upcoming Sheriff's elections and a summary/ discussion of candidates and how they stand on the various issue and especially if they try tricks to make it hard for people to get permits. Put one anti gun Sheriff out of office and others will take note.

When you call the lady at sheriff's office perhaps you should politely inquire when the next election for sheriff will be held. He may get the message.

[SigForLife]

Jozwiack has been a huge help in the acquisition of Class III firearms here in Berks. Many of the surrounding counties make it EXTREMELY difficult for sign off, this is not the case with Sheriff Jozwiack, so although I too am concerned with the action, we need to tread lightly.