Sit back and imagine that you're with the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure, and it's your job to distribute disks chock-full of names and addresses for those who have professional licenses in the state of Massachusetts. You distribute these disks because marketing firms want them thanks to the public records law. That doesn't sound so hard.
So you use the office's new software to gather and generate this information. Then you let it run and go get some coffee and maybe a donut, and maybe look at Perez Hilton, and just assume that everything's shipshape. But no one bothered to check that the Social Security numbers were removed. Yep--you, your coffee, and your donut are operating without a net, and the Social Security numbers of 450,000 professionals are floating out in the world, fancy-free.
On the bright side (if there could be a bright side to your story), some apple-polisher in the office caught the error and requested that the disks be returned immediately. And, people being generally good, all but two came back.
What does that do? Launch the standard protocol reviews to create "new protocols," which might make people feel better, but what's obvious is that someone in your office--was it you?--wasn't dotting the i's and crossing the t's. Enjoy that donut, and tell your friends that if they are a professional, like an accountant (full list available here), they might want to call the Division of Professional Licensure at (617) 973-8100, e-mail them at reg.director@state.ma.us, and get a credit report!
Image from Amazon.
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