SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — The Employment Development Department is putting millions of Californians at risk for identity theft by mailing documents containing full Social Security numbers, according to an audit released Thursday.

In a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and state legislators, the California State Auditor said EDD has continued to print full social security numbers on commonly mailed documents, despite a recommendation made in March 2019.

In their original report, the California State Auditor recommended EDD discontinue printing full Social Security numbers on mail to claimants and prioritize altering some of its most commonly mailed documents by March 2020. 

EDD agreed with the recommendations in 2019 but has not fully implemented them, according to the State Auditor. 

The State Auditor said, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, EDD has put Californians at risk by sending out at least 38 million pieces of mail containing full Social Security numbers.

The EDD is an accomplice in identity theft and fraud. The State Auditor has been warning EDD about sending Social Security numbers through the mail for years. EDD knows that scammers are on the lookout for this information. They have thumbed their nose at state law and have put the identities of 38 million Californians at risk. The Governor needs to get a hold of this rogue department, clean house at every level and start demanding that they stop breaking the law.

Jim Patterson, Assemblymen 23rd District