For those of you outside of Los Angeles and Orange County or irregular listeners of the John & Ken Show, yesterday a proverbial hornets’ nest was stirred when a member of the law enforcement community tipped off John & Ken (audio here and here) to the fact that the Orange County Superior Court has been outsourcing data processing activities to a company, Cal Coast Data Entry, that subcontracts with a facility in Nogales, Mexico. FlashReport has the story featured near the bottom of the right column on the main page today. (For more, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.)
At issue here is whether or not individuals ticketed for traffic violations in Orange County should have their personal information, including driver’s license number, name, address, and automobile license number, shared with or processed by foreign citizens who might abuse it. At this point, it seems like discretion is left up to each individual county’s superior court.
FR caught up with Orange County Assemblyman Mike Duvall (also Assembly Transportation Committee Vice-Chairman), who, with Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby, has been on the forefront of this issue. The following is what Assemblyman Duvall had to say on the matter:
"I was just as disturbed as everyone else when I heard about this contract agreement. My staff and I have already begun looking into this issue. I don’t want to shoot first and ask questions later. However, on principle I am strongly opposed to government outsourcing of activities that may threaten Americans’ personal information."
I asked the Assemblyman why he was so opposed (the proverbial ‘softball’) and he said, "When you’re not an American citizen and you aren’t living or working within the borders of the United States, you aren’t subject to our rules. That’s the issue. Leaving aside the security precautions Cal Coast Data Entry may or may not have instituted at their Nogales facility, what penalties would a Mexican citizen, living and working in , face if they were to mishandle Americans’ personal information or use it for financial gain?"
Since I wanted to get this post up asap, I asked Duvall for any final thoughts. He added, "Clearly this Orange County Superior Court contract agreement is a bad idea. I’m looking at the best means of addressing it as a member of the State Legislature, given where we are in the legislative session as well as separation of powers issues. My office has already submitted a request for information to the Office of the Legislative Counsel so I may determine the most expedient and effective way to address this concern as well as the tools at my disposal. I am fully committed to ensuring the public’s safety and preventing the harmful use of American citizens’ personal information."
Kudos to Mike Duvall for taking a leading role on this at the state legislative level.