Data breach · November 2022

Was I in the Washington State Food Worker Card breach?

Washington State Food Worker Card is a Washington State food worker training system. Its breach happened in November 2022 and exposed 1,594,305 accounts. It included driver's licence numbers, dates of birth, email addresses and general locations and 1 other kind of detail. If you had an account there by November 2022, check your address below to see whether it is one of them.

Breach record last updated . Steps read from the government pages at the foot of this page.

Check your address Read the steps
01

What happened?

In June 2023, a county health department in Washington State announced a breach of the online Food Worker Card training system. The data had appeared on a hacking forum a year earlier and came from a database backup made in 2018. It held email addresses, names, post codes, birth dates and some driver's licence numbers.

Organisation
Washington State Food Worker Card, a Washington State food worker training system (foodworkercard.wa.gov)
When it happened
November 2022
Added to monitored breach databases
31 March 2024
Accounts in the data
1,594,305
What was exposed
driver's licence numbers, dates of birth, email addresses, general locations and names
02

What was exposed, and what does it mean for me?

  • Government ID numbersdriver's licence numbers

    With an ID number, someone can try to open credit, claim benefits or file a tax return in your name.

  • Identity detailsdates of birth

    A date of birth is one of the facts a lender or a phone company uses to confirm who you are. It does not change, so it stays useful to a fraudster for years.

  • Your email addressemail addresses

    Expect messages that look like they come from this service or another one you use, written to get you to click a link or sign in on a fake page.

  • Other detailsgeneral locations and names

    On their own these carry less risk, but they make a scam message sound more personal.

03

What should I do now?

In this order, for what this breach exposed.

1. Treat the ID number as known

  • Watch for mail about accounts, benefits or tax filings you did not start.
  • In the US, if your Social Security number was among them, ask the IRS for an identity protection PIN. Nobody else can then file a tax return with your number.
  • In Canada, if your identity is used, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre lists Service Canada (1-800-622-6232) and the Canada Revenue Agency (1-800-959-8281) among the calls to make.

2. In the US: freeze your credit at all three bureaus

  • Place a credit freeze with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. It is free to place and to lift, and it does not affect your credit score.
  • If you would rather not freeze, a fraud alert lasts one year. You ask one bureau and it tells the other two.
  • If someone uses your details, report it at IdentityTheft.gov to get a recovery plan.

3. In Canada: check your credit file and lock it

  • Get your credit report from Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. Both give it free online.
  • In Ontario, both bureaus must offer a security freeze free of charge, and each bureau is a separate request.
  • If you live in Quebec or Ontario, Equifax Canada will lock your credit report at no charge, online, by phone or by mail. Ask TransUnion Canada separately.
  • If your details are used to open an account, call your bank, report it to both bureaus, report it to your local police and get a file number, then report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501).

4. Expect phishing

  • Be wary of messages that urge you to act fast, ask for personal details, or link to an address that is slightly off.
  • If a message might be genuine, do not use its links or phone numbers. Go to the site by typing its address yourself.
04

Is my address in it?

Enter your email address. We check that one address against monitored breach databases and show which breaches list it and what each exposed.

No account needed. We keep the address you check, when, and how many breach records it was found in, to prevent abuse, until you ask us to delete it. Privacy

Sources

Where does this come from?

Other breaches from 2022

All breaches Breaches from 2022 Breaches that exposed dates of birthBreaches that exposed government ID numbers