California Assemblymember calls for state review of DOJ data leak. ‘I don’t trust them’

Assemblyman Jim Patterson on Tuesday called for an emergency audit of the state Department of Justice in the aftermath of a massive data leak that released names and addresses of thousands of concealed weapon permit holders.

Patterson, R-Fresno, said the “horrendous leak” of private information put 240,000 Californians, including judges, domestic violence victims, stalking targets and others at serious risk.

“This is scary and I don’t think the DOJ should be investigating itself,” Patterson said. “The California State Auditor should be in charge. No other investigation is sufficient.”

The DOJ, in a July 8 letter to those impacted by the release, said information for anyone who was approved or denied a permit between 2011 and 2021 was released. The letter was signed by Attorney General Rob Bonta. Information included names, dates of birth, addresses and gender. In some cases, driver’s licenses were also included. Social Security numbers were not part of the data.

Bonta said the release happened as the Firearms Data Portal on the DOJ’s website was updated on June 29. The information remained on the site for about 24 hours before it was taken down. Bonta urged victims to freeze credit online, make use of a call center for help, offered access to a dark web monitoring service, and a $1 million reimbursement policy to anyone victimized by the leak.

The attorney general also said that the department was reviewing policies and procedures “to implement additional security measures.”

Asked to respond to allegations posted on social media websites such as Calguns.net that the leak was intentional, Patterson said:

“Whether this was done on purpose or it was a mistake, the damage has been done.

“I have not had a conversation with (the DOJ) because I don’t trust them.”

“We can get to the bottom of this.”