ATLANTA -- After a major data breach exposed more than six million voters' personal information, Georgia's Secretary of State says the state will offer free credit monitoring and restoration to those affected.
Georgia's Secretary of State Brian Kemp said the free credit monitoring should help reassure voters.
"I just felt like this is something that will give the voters a peace of mind," Kemp said.
Kemp acknowledged the scope of the breach, but assured it was caught before voters' information, including social security numbers, could get into the hands of identity thieves, even though that information was accidentally transferred to computer disks that were distributed to the public.
"I don't believe the information's out there. I've said that many times," he said. "I do believe people that need to have that peace of mind if -- for some crazy reason. This is a good insurance policy."
The breach cost a state computer programmer his job. But that worker, Gary Cooley, considers himself a scapegoat. Cooley told 11Alive's Jon Shirek when he discovered the breach, he thought it had already been corrected and that the data never got out.
"The Secretary of State accused me of adding the personal information to the files on the discs," Cooley said over the phone. "I couldn't possibly have put the personal data on the disks. I didn't even have security access to the data."
But Kemp stands by his decision. He didn't comment further except to say Cooley did not notify anyone when he found out about the mistake.
"I'm very confident that Mr. Cooley violated policies and procedures that were in place to prevent things like this," Kemp said. "Had they been followed, this had not have happened."
Regardless of who's to blame, Kemp said the free credit monitoring and restoration services will be available to all voters for one year. They will be able to sign up for the program in about two weeks on the Secretary of State's website. Kemp estimates the program will cost the Secretary of State's office $1.2 million.
