Get a Ticket and Your Personal Info Will be Sent to Mexico

If you get a ticket in Orange County, CA (where I live), the courts will send your personal information to Nogales, Mexico for processing:

Orange County's Superior Court contracts with a company that uses workers in Nogales, Mexico, to do the data entry of traffic tickets, a revelation on Thursday that outraged many who fear personal information is leaving the country.

The court has contracted since March 2006 with Cal Coast Data Entry, Inc., a Cerritos company that has a facility in Nogales. Information from tickets – including drivers' license numbers, car license numbers, birth dates and addresses – are scanned at the Cerritos facility and sent electronically to the Mexican facility.
In a statement issued Thursday evening, court officials defended use of the company, saying transfer of ticket information was by electronic encryption and the company has state-of-the-art security.

"The company and the staff they employ are dedicated to keeping the public's data secure and safe," the statement said. "The court wants to ensure the public that private data is safe."

Court officials refused to release the cost of the contract and said they would continue using the company. Cal Coast officials wouldn't comment, citing client confidentiality.

This is outrageous. I don't care what encryption protections they think they've got, sending important personal information on thousands of Orange County residents (and others who happen to get nabbed in the O.C.) is rife with potential for fraud.

This information came to light when a law enforcement officer gave the story to the John and Ken Show on KFI 640 in Los Angeles. Given that John and Ken are experienced bomb throwers, this won't go away quietly. I'm guessing they'll will keep the pressure on until the courts have to come up with a safer way to handle this information.