Data Breach Exposes Confidential Information on all Conceal Carry Permit Holders in California
Earlier this week while the California Department of Justice (DOJ) was implementing a new “2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal” a breach occurred which made thousands of legal firearm owner’s information public.
The California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta’s office released a media statement Monday regarding the new dashboard, claiming it would, “improve transparency and information sharing for firearms-related data,” and would “help the public access data on firearms in California, including information about the issuance of Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permits and Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVROs).”
Well, it certainly did that.
According to a statement made by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, personal information pertaining to every CCW Permit holder in the state of California was leaked to the public.
The California AG’s Office made a follow up press release to explain what information was made vulnerable to the public, stating, “Information exposed included names, date of birth, gender, race, driver’s license number, addresses, and criminal history.”
According to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, some of the leaked information may have been posted to social media as well.
The AG’s office emphasized its commitment to investigating the source or cause of the breach. That being said, it is possible that the person responsible for making this confidential information public was emboldened by the Supreme Court draft opinion leak just under two months prior, as no culprit has been charged or even identified.
This breach is an example of one of the many reasons it would be a horrible idea to implement a national firearm owner registry. If this form of in-depth information were to be collected on all legal firearm owners nationwide, it would result in a major fracture of trust between the law-abiding American citizens and their government.
