CHICAGO (CBS) — A data breach for the state’s new system to process unemployment claims for contractors and gig workers exposed personal information for potentially thousands of people, but state officials said the error was fixed within an hour of learning of the issue.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security confirmed one person who has filed claim for benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program was able to access personal information for “a limited number of claimants” on Friday.
Illinois State Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) said a constituent in her district made her aware of the data breach, after inadvertently accessing a spreadsheet with names and personal information for thousands of unemployment applicants.
“My constituent was visibly shaken, and worried, and shared her discovery with me. My office immediately brought this to the attention of IDES officials and the Governor’s office,” Bryant wrote in a Facebook post.
IDES said the problem was fixed within an hour of being notified.
“It was corrected to prevent any future unauthorized access,” IDES said in a statement.
The department has contracted with Deloitte to run the state’s online PUA claims process. According to the state, more than 50,000 claims have been filed through the website since it launched on Monday.
PUA benefits are offered to gig workers, contractors, self-employed workers, and others not normally eligible for traditional unemployment.
Bryant and State Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) have said IDES and the governor’s office should provide more specifics on the data breach, including exactly how long sensitive information was out there for others to see, how many people’s information was exposed, and what specific actions have been taken to fix the issue.
“It’s been one failure after anoth ..
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