L.A.'s already embattled food truck operators have yet another stress on their shoulders this morning after the L.A. County Department of Public Health announced a major leak of these business owners' personal information yesterday.
According to the admission, the website for Public's Health's Environmental Health Division posted Mobile Food Facility Official Inspection Reports which showed the personal information, including names, ID and Driver's License numbers, and possibly also dates of birth, of roughly 806 permitees or "persons-in-charge."
Public Health, so far, does not claim to see any evidence this information was used by any bad actors who stole the information towards illicit ends, but obviously, such a data violation stands to affect a population of food truck operators that is already subject to public violence, robbery, murder, and aggressive law enforcement and legislation intent on shutting down or limiting their operations.
Nonetheless, the agency claims the reports were "promptly" removed upon their discovery, while attempts were made to contact those affected. Public Health also claims:
Since the incident, we have reviewed and retrained our workforce on the relevant policies and procedures and provided additional trainings to prevent future incidents. Public Health is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal information of our Mobile Food Facility Persons-In-Charge and Permittees.
This probably comes as little comfort for those whose personal information has already been erroneously revealed, potentially revealing their identities to scam artists, crooks, or anti-taco extremists.
The agency is encouraging anyone who thinks their information may have been exposed, which includes anyone who may have participated in a Mobile Food Facility Inspection between July 1, 2020, and July 29, 2022, to call 888-700-9995, the number for Environmental Health Division’s Customer Call Center, so they can confirm.
If one's information falls into the wrong hands, they're encouraged to contact law enforcement, banks, and credit card companies.
May we also suggest calling this guy?
