The Florida Department of Education is reviewing its database security after a breach that exposed the personal information of 47,000 people trying to become teachers. The names, addresses, birthdays and social security numbers of teacher preparation participants were available for anyone to see for two weeks.
The data were transferred between servers at Florida State University, which was working under contract with the state, but there were no security measures in place to restrict access after the transfer.
DOE spokesman Joe Follick says there's no evidence any of the personal information was misused.
"If even one person’s information is taken and used illegally, then that is one person too many", Follick said. "So, that’s why we are taking these steps so that everyone has the confidence they should have when their information is in our control."
The data breach was discovered by accident about two weeks ago.
DOE has set up a hotline for anyone who thinks their person information may have been stolen. That number is 1-866-507-1109.