NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & SportsInvestigation Continues In Election Commission Theft

Investigation Continues In Election Commission Theft

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The investigation continues into the theft of laptop computers from the Davidson County Election Commission headquarters.

The devices contained sensitive personal information for more than 330,000 Davidson County voters.

What action should Metro take to protect the identities of those people?

What action can Metro voters take to protect themselves?

Right now, police say voters should call one of the three major credit bureaus to put a fraud alert on their accounts.

Other protection is out there.

Many Davidson county voters would like to see Metro pick up the tab.

"If any information is out there, it's very scary," said Kimberly Guy.

Guy is a voter with personal information in the computer stolen from the election commission headquarters.

"Things can be purchased and your information can be used before you even have knowledge of it," Guy said.

Guy and other voters want Metro government to pay for the error that could cause taxpayers years of credit issues.

Other governments have footed the bill for credit protection.

In Ohio, the identities of 2,500 people were put at risk in 2007 when a computer was stolen. The state offered those people a free year of credit monitoring.

"I think they should have to pay for all the fees associated with checking credit reports," Guy said.

The Metro Police Department's fraud unit said the computer theft should serve as a wake-up call.

"This is a good example of why people should check their credit scores yearly," said Lt. Mickey Garner.

Garner said it's good for Davidson County voters to put a credit alert on their file. They should also not panic.

"If the laptop turns up in a pawn shop, you don't have to worry about identity theft," Garner said.

What if the sensitive information on the laptop causes identity problems for voters?

"We're undecided if one police report listing 300,000 people as victims is sufficient with the credit bureaus," Garner said.

"There are 337,000 people out there wondering what to do," said Metro Councilman Michael Craddock, who chairs Metro's public safety committee. "Government needs to step up and take the lead on this."

There will be a public safety committee meeting Thursday in council chambers.

Craddock said the committee wants the election commission to answer questions about the security lapses leading to the computer theft.

Police estimate it happened around Dec. 22nd.

Mayor Karl Dean called on all Metro departments to conduct individual security audits in light of the recent computer thefts.

The election commission will send letters to more than 300,000 voters by week's end. The letter notifies voters of the theft and that personal information on the computer may be in the hands of an unauthorized person.

To find out how to protect oneself from identity theft, visit the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/.

Also, to contact the three credit reporting agencies, call Equifax at 1-800-685-111 or go to www.equifax.com; go to Experian's Web site at www.experian.com or call 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); or call 1-800-4213 for TransUnion or visit www.transunion.com.