On Friday morning, I spoke with a constituent of mine from Mount Vernon that came upon a startling and disturbing discovery while she was trying to apply for unemployment for the PUA program.
Out of work Illinoisans have waited for weeks to be able to apply for unemployment. Those who were initially eligible were not able to get through on the website, or the phone - some people called more than 100 times.
While this was happening, I joined several of my colleagues in the House calling on the Governor to get their act together at IDES! We heard the governor, for weeks, reply that he was doing unprecedented work at IDES. You can go back and watch multiple press conferences where the governor touts the response by IDES.
Fast forward to this past Friday morning - I heard from my constituent that while applying for unemployment, she clicked just two links and came upon the personal information of thousands of Illinois citizens. This information included names, social security numbers, addresses, and Claimant ID numbers.
She was shocked and disturbed and even frightened for her safety. Being aware that her discovery was an immediate emergency, I took action to notify the appropriate staff members within my caucus and the Governor's office.
On Saturday, I sent the Governor a letter asking him several questions in regard to the potential data breach.
Here are the questions I asked:
1. Is IDES aware of any potential data breach involving the personal information of thousands of Illinoisans that have applied for unemployment?
2. Is Governor Pritzker or his staff aware of any potential breach involving the personal information of thousands of Illinoisans that have applied for unemployment?
3. How long was the personal information of unemployment applicants available for other applicants to see?
4. Has the problem been resolved? Is there any possibility that thousands of Illinoisans that have applied for unemployment assistance through the IDES website have had their identity compromised?
So far, the governor's office has issued two replies:
1. Thank you Representative. We are aware and fixing the problem. That was at 1:51 pm yesterday.
2. Late in the evening, after I posted a press release and sent my letter to the media, the governor's office issued the following reply to WBEZ: In a statement to WBEZ, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said IDES was “aware there was a glitch in the new PUA system that made some private information publicly available for a short time and worked to immediately remedy the situation.”
She said it was not known how many claimants had their personal information made public and she did not say what caused the problem.
“A full investigation is under way to assess exactly what happened and how many people were impacted,” Abuddayeh said. “Those who were impacted will be notified.”
Folks - this is unacceptable. We need to know what the Governor knew about this breach, when he knew it, and how long it lasted. I am on your side on this issue. I am going to be joining my colleagues for a full audit of IDES to find out what the HELL is going on there. When I go back to Springfield on Wednesday, you better believe I've got some questions that I will demand answers to.
Thank you to everyone for sharing our facebook post and our press release. Thank you also to the media to WSIL, to the Chicago Tribune, to WBEZ especially for breaking this Story at 1:30 in the morning on a Sunday. This is a big deal and we deserve answers to our questions!
Here are links to the stories:
https://www.wbez.org/…/glitch-in-new-illinois-unemployment-…
https://wsiltv.com/…/illinois-lawmakers-demand-answers-ove…/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/…/ct-pritzker-illinois-unemp…
