St. Clair County learned voter data was left unsecured online. What’s it doing about it?

Officials in St. Clair County and more than a dozen other Illinois counties recently learned that voters’ personal records, including Social Security numbers, were temporarily available on the open internet by their elections technology contractor.

Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler identified the vulnerability in July and reported it to several county clerks, as well as the contractor, Platinum Technology Resource, and the company’s IT services provider, Magenium, according to Capitol News Illinois, which first reported the situation Tuesday.

Platinum has informed county officials that only Fowler accessed the data, St. Clair County Clerk Tom Holbrook said in an emailed statement Tuesday in response to Belleville News-Democrat questions.

Holbrook added that St. Clair County has asked Platinum for details about “what files were viewed and what personally identifiable information was or was not exposed,” which the county has not yet received.

“My office will continue the conversations with Platinum to ensure the protection of voters’ personally identifiable information,” Holbrook stated.

He encouraged citizens concerned about identity theft to visit the Illinois Attorney General’s website to learn more about its resources for the public.

Holbrook declined to comment on whether St. Clair County will continue to do business with Platinum in future elections. But he said the county would review contractor and subcontractor policies and practices on data integrity and security in the wake of news of the unsecured data.

“The county has and will continue to prioritize election integrity,” Holbrook stated.