S.T.O.P. Condemns ‘Data Dump’ Of Attorney Information As Privacy Breach

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns ‘Data Dump’ of Attorney Information as Privacy Breach   (NEW YORK, NY, 10/29/2019) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, condemned New York State’s Office of Information and Technology Services (OITS) for creating a “data dump” of the names, addresses, phone numbers and other information for New York State’s 374,984 current and former attorneys.   SEE: OITS New York Attorney Database https://data.ny.gov/Transparency/attorney-lookup-new-york/2ea2-qc7r   OITS introduced the new, insecure system even though the New York Unified Court System (UCS) already provided limited ability to search attorney information. The existing UCS system allowed members of the public to confirm a specific attorney’s licensing information, while preventing wholesale data-scraping. The OITS system would allow an individual to easily download all registration information, including many attorney’s home addresses and phone numbers.   SEE: Existing New York Unified Court System Attorney Search https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/attorney   “This irresponsible data dump exposes private information on hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers,” said S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “We’re especially concerned about the impact of this release on retired attorneys who don’t have an office address. There’s a world of difference between having this information available for individual searches and making it possible to download the entire dataset. It should be much harder to access our private information when there’s a real risk the information will be misused.” The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   - END – CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn;   Copyright © 2019 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.