COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- A company hired by the state of Ohio allegedly printed 8,000 childcare providers' Social Security numbers on mass-mailing envelopes, officials said.
Affiliated Computer Services, a subsidiary of Xerox Corp. was hired to manage a new automated provider payment and tracking system, WBNS-TV, Columbus, reported Tuesday.
"I received an envelope in the mail, and when I looked at it, I didn't even open it up. All I (saw) was my social security number on the outside of this envelope," said Aysia Haile, adding she was shocked.
"Xerox sent out a mailing to these providers and the mailing label on the envelope included their provider ID number. Now for a childcare center, that's not a big deal. It's a random six-digit number. For providers who offer childcare out of their own home, their provider number is their Social Security number," said Ben Johnson with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in Columbus.
Ohio officials said identity theft protection would be provided to all workers affected by the identification disclosure.
