New research has found that three-quarters of US lawmakers could be vulnerable to security risks such as identity theft because their personal information is easily accessible online through people search sites.
An Incogni report identified contact information, family information, and home addresses for 80% of Republican House members and 74% of Democratic House members. In comparison, information for female House members was slightly more difficult to obtain, with information available for 62% and 73% of Republican and Democratic House members, respectively.
People search sites are specialized search engines that collect and sell personal data, often without the owner's knowledge. The information available about the House member varied, with court records, property values and information relating to some members of Congress being revealed.
Security risks
The smallest US states were the most vulnerable, with Arizona, Washington, New York, Minnesota, Indiana and Connecticut being the most protected, with less than 60% of House members' information found on people search sites.
The unprotected personal information was a massive oversight by security services, said Darius Belejeva, director of Incogni and a data privacy expert.
“The security of American lawmakers has never been more precarious, so it was terrifying to discover how much of their personal data is easily obtainable,” he added. “This is a massive oversight that exposes members of the House of Representatives to security risks and must be addressed urgently.”
The news comes at an important time for U.S. political security following the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, as well as a Virginia man being charged with making violent online threats against Vice President Harris.
“But this is not a problem that affects only high-profile politicians,” Belejeva added. “Millions of Americans have their personal data stored, unwittingly, on people search sites, which can be exploited by scammers and identity thieves and sold to unknown entities for purposes to which they have not consented.”
There are personal information data removal services that can be used to track and remove data from online brokers.
