Greg Abbott’s Privacy Hypocrisy

[TexasTowelie]

In a transparent pander to Republican ideologues and Tea Party extremists, Greg Abbott is attempting to raise the specter that Texans’ personal information could be vulnerable if they enroll in a healthcare plan as part of the public health exchange required under the Affordable Care Act.

Abbott claimed to the Austin American Statesman that he is, “…deeply concerned about privacy and the security of this very sensitive information."

Greg Abbott failed, however, to disclose that he is responsible for one of the biggest data breaches in Texas history. His incompetence exposed the social security numbers of over 6 million Texans, leaving them vulnerable to potential identify theft.

Here’s what happened:
·During litigation last year on the Texas Voter ID Bill, Abbott bungled a court order requiring him to send voter records to opposing legal counsel. Abbott failed to redact the personal social security numbers of at least 6 million Texas voters included in the surrendered records.
·Had it not been for the diligence, competence and integrity of Abbott’s opposing legal counsel, the records might have been sent to a commercial data center to be formatted for use in trial, thus making them vulnerable to unscrupulous individuals who could have sold the records to identity thieves.
·The Lone Star Project broke the story on Abbott’s bungle. The Houston Chronicle and other news outlets confirmed Abbott didn't know the breach had occurred until being informed by opposing attorneys for the Democratic plaintiffs.

Source: http://lonestarproject.net/greg-abbott%E2%80%99s-privacy-hypocrisy

[DhhD]

1. Abbott only cares for those who already have private insurance. If he scares off those who need

to sign up for health care, they will have to pay the fee for opting out of coverage for 2014 and wait for the following yearly enrollment period. What a hateful and disastrous thing to do. Some could die next year because they opted out of coverage for 365 days over Abbott's misinformation and hatefulness. This is a real case of sheep-people being lead astray.

Voters cannot trust Abbott.