Excerpted from The Daily Independent
July 6, 2022
Earlier this week, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) illegally released the private and personal information of Californians who own firearms. This reckless release of confidential information poses a potential danger to residents who are California Concealed Carry Weapons permits holders including judges and crime victims.
“The recent release of private and personal information of individual firearm owners in California including California Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permit holders is unacceptable and a full investigation must be done,” said Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Central Valley. “The results of this investigation should be made public and protocols must be put in place to ensure this does not happen ever again.”
“The mishandling of private information by the California DOJ affects individuals and their families including victims of domestic violence or criminal threats, judges, and law enforcement officers. This data breach is a violation of state law,” Fong said following his call for a full investigation.
On the afternoon of June 27, the Department of Justice posted updates that disclosed personal information to the Firearms Dashboard Portal according to its news release.
The data breach made public names, date of birth, gender, race, driver’s license numbers, addresses and criminal history for those who were granted or denied a concealed and carry weapons permit between 2011 to 2021.
Residents who are participants of other dashboards were also affected: Assault Weapon Registry, Handguns Certified for Sale, Dealer Record of Sale, Firearm Certificate Safety and Gun Violence Restraining Order. The extent of the breach on those dashboards is not yet known.
“All steps must be taken to ensure that this does not happen again,” Fong added.