Last week, Mille Lacs County and former investigator for the Mille Lacs County Family Services, Mikki Jo Peterick, agreed to pay $1 million to settle a proposed federal class action which alleged that a former employee of Mille Lacs County Family Services (Peterick) accessed 269 individuals’ driver’s license information for the employee’s own personal use. During the n normal course of business, Peterick had access to the Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services database for investigative purposes. However, between January 2009 and November 2012, Peterick accessed information that cannot be associated with any of her investigations. The complaint against the County and the former employee alleged that “because Peterick accessed some of the individuals’ personal information numerous times, the county’s audit report shows a total of approximately 605 accesses made for purposes not permitted under the [federal] Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.” The motor vehicle record contained in the database include drivers’ names, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, addresses, driver’s license photos, weights, heights, and eye color, as well as potentially their medical and disability information. The compliant also alleged that the County “failed to put into place systems and/or procedures to ensure plaintiffs’ and class members’ private data would be protected and would not be subject to misuse.” Yet another case where employers can take away one thing: employees are still the biggest threat to your organization’s data.

[View source.]