" Under the bill signed last week, Social Security numbers would no longer be considered protected data if they exist in public records held by clerks in the state. Before passage of the bill, Social Security numbers were considered protected data, as they are elsewhere in the country. "

" The swift passage of House Bill 2061 through both houses of the Texas legislature and its approval by the governor are likely to come as a blow to those who see it is a serious privacy threat. "

" Just a week before the bill's approval, the Texas State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) had submitted a resolution to the governor urging him to veto the measure. The SREC's resolution urged the governor to instead support several newly proposed bills that would ban the unauthorized distribution of Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers as well as demographic and health data collected and used by government entities in Texas. "

" The governor's decision to sign the bill is "disappointing," said Terese Raia, SREC committeewoman for Senate District 17. "I have never in my entire political life seen a bill written and passed in a week," she said. "This is unheard of." "

" Perry's approval put an end -- at least temporarily -- to a controversy involving the distribution of public documents containing personal data, such as mortgage records and tax liens, by the state's court and county clerks. Many clerks, including those in Texas, have been making such records -- including ones with personal data such as Social Security numbers -- available online to anyone with an Internet connection. Several counties sell the unredacted information at bulk prices to data aggregators, financial institutions, list brokers and others. "

" on Feb. 23 held such disclosures to be a violation of both state and federal privacy laws. In his ruling, Abbott said that disclosing personal data in public records was a criminal offense punishable by jail times and fines. "

"Security is the greatest single issue for IT groups today. See how Oracle Secure Enterprise Search enables two organizations to deliver secure, low-cost, and easy-to-deploy search solutions that eliminate information overload, and are as easy to use as popular Internet search engines. This webcast airs on Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 2:00 PM EDT"

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" Everyone is demanding that IT managers do a better job of securing critical data and systems. Meanwhile, hackers
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