New research finds that three-quarters of US lawmakers are vulnerable to security risks such as identity theft because their personal information is easily accessible online through searchable websites.
A report from Incogni identified contact information, family information and home addresses for 80% of male Republican House members and 74% of male Democrats. In comparison, information on female House members was slightly harder to come by, with 62% and 73% of Republican and Democratic House members, respectively.
People search sites are specialized search engines that collect and sell personal information, often without the owner’s knowledge. The information available on the House member varied, with some members of Congress’ court records, real estate values and related information exposed.
Security risks
Smaller U.S. states were the least protected, while Arizona, Washington, New York, Minnesota, Indiana and Connecticut were the most protected. Less than 60% of household members’ data was found on people-finding websites.
According to Darius Belejeva, head of Incogni and an expert in data privacy, unprotected personal information was a major oversight by the security services.
“The security of American lawmakers has rarely felt so precarious, so it was frightening to discover how much of their personal data is easily obtainable,” she added. “This is a massive oversight that exposes House members to security risks and must be urgently addressed.”
The news comes at a critical time for US political security, following the recent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and the indictment of a Virginia man for making violent threats online against Vice President Harris.
“However, this is not just a problem affecting high-profile politicians,” Belejeva added. “Millions of Americans have unknowingly stored their personal information on people search sites, which can be misused by fraudsters and identity thieves and sold to unknown entities for purposes they have not consented to.”
There are services available to delete personal data. These can be used to track and delete data from online brokers.