Two New York state lawmakers from the Hudson Valley say they’ve introduced legislation to protect people whose personal information was leaked after applying for unemployment benefits.
State Senator Sue Serino and Assemblyman Colin Schmitt say their bill aims to protect New Yorkers whose personal information was accidentally leaked by the Department of Labor after applying for unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 crisis. Schmitt says he drafted the legislation after hearing from a constituent whose private information, including social security number, had been compromised. In late April, Schmitt says the Department of Labor mailed sensitive personal information to the wrong people. Impacted residents have been offered one year of free credit monitoring but the two Republican lawmakers want to extend this protection to five years.
