It’s been nearly two months since the security of thousands of birth records were potentially compromised, including 124 records from Sutter County, but state Health Department officials only notified the public on Tuesday.
“We’ve been working on the investigation with the California Highway Patrol and wanted to get the information out to the public in as timely a manner as possible,” said Anita Gore, a state Public Health Department spokeswoman.
A reel of microfiche containing images of about 2,000 California birth records from 1974 was found “in an unsecured location.”
“This was brought to our intention in mid-March,” Gore said. “We do not think the information has been used by anyone.”
Officials would not disclose the location of the potentially compromised records or whether the compromise involved some type of break-in to a Public Health facility, saying releasing that information could harm the investigation.
Parents of people born in Sutter County from May through September 1974 are advised to monitor their credit reports, Chuck Smith, a Sutter County spokesman, said in a statement.
Social Security numbers of parents were included on birth records in California from 1973 through 1977, Sutter County Clerk-Recorder Donna Johnston said.
Johnston noted that most births to parents living in Sutter and Yuba counties since the 1950s have occurred at then-Fremont Hospital in Yuba City.
Gore said there was no timetable for when the investigation may be completed.
Most of the potentially compromised counties begin with the letter “S” and include Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Tehama counties.
CONTACT Rob Parsons at rparsons@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4785. Find him on Facebook at /ADcrimebeat or on Twitter at @ADcrimebeat.