My name is Fred* and I have a complaint against the State Probation Office.

The situation is I'm on probation and I report monthly to the Probation Office and have done so for 7 years, I recently moved to a new address which is no longer in the jurisdiction., therefore I was transferred to a New Probation Office. I received a letter in the mail informing me of the transfer, the problem with the letter is that the Sending Officer who is Name withheld at the first Probation Office put the letter in an envelope with a open window that revealed my name , address and social security number for the world to see. Name withheld had no right to put my personal information out there., now I have to worry if someone out there has my personal information that could damage my credit.

I have excellent credit, but who knows what will happen now. I need to know what I can do to make this person responsible for their action. I know that it against the law for anyone to put this type of info out there the way it was done. I want this person held responsible for what was done.

Please help me if you can.

Fred*

* Editor made up name.

First let me congratulate you on what appears to be a successful rehabilitation, seven years of satisfactory probation shows character regardless of the circumstances that led to it.

To answer your current question, yes actions of the probation officer were uncontainable and likely illegal.

The first thing I would do is contact the three major credit reporting agency's fraud divisions at, TRW/Experian, Equifax and Trans-Union. Their contact information can be found at http://www.timduffy.com/credit/credit_report.htm. Request each one put a flag on your account to alert future credit inquirers to verify the identity of anyone applying for credit using your Social Security Card although this isn't 100% safe it does afford a degree of protection, these flags stay on your file for two years and it is your responsibility to renew them if you desire. There is no need for you to tell the whole story only that you have reason to believe that your personal information has been compromised.

The down side, you will not be able to get instant credit for a new account unless you contact the three reporting agencies and have them remove the flags for twenty four hours. For credit other than instant the processing of any application will take longer as the credit provider will contact you by mail to verify that it was indeed you that applied.

Addressing what you can do about the probation department is more difficult. Probation Officers are generally overworked, underpaid and in some states poorly educated and got the job through political connections or from programs for the under employed. This may or may not apply in your state.

I also have no idea of what loss of civil rights if any are covered by the terms and conditions of your probation as they vary by state.

I would suggest that you contact the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) http://www.aclu.org/ A list of state offices is on the first page, or contact a local public interest law firm for guidance.

One important thing for you to consider is the possible ramifications of any action you may take as some bureaucrats can be very vindictive and this could lead to problems with your probation.

Let me know the outcome

Good Luck

Tim

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