(Making it easier for Identity Thieves)…And, it is a California Government Department.

The Employment Development Department recognizes they have a problem. The EDD includes full social security numbers and other personal information on millions of documents mailed each year. The Department agrees that it should immediately stop sending out the full social security numbers, but they say due to an antiquated computer system, it will take them at least two years to adjust the problem. The issue was discovered in a state audit released Thursday. State lawmakers ordered the audit last year after learning the EDD had not stopped printing full social security numbers on many of the most commonly used forms sent in the mail, despite lawmakers and consumers raising questions about the practice in 2015. The audit discovered the EDD did not even have a plan on removing the information from the mailed documents. The EDD says they are waiting until their computer system is upgraded in 2024. The EDD has since released a statement indicating the Department has agreed to immediately implement solutions to the problems.