Image courtesy of DHS Twitter

A data breach has affected thousands of people in Dallas County.

The Iowa Department of Human Services announced Friday that 4,784 income maintenance and social work cases were affected by a data breach. DHS officials launched an internal investigation following a report of the incident on November 25th. A contracted custodial company mistakenly emptied boxes with documents to be shredded into the office’s garbage dumpster. The dumpster was then emptied before the documents could be recovered.

DHS believes the types of information on the documents included names, mailing addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, banking and wage information, disability information, among others. The custodial worker claims to have no knowledge of the confidential nature of the paperwork. The affected parties were notified and DHS believes access to the information was minimal. 

Those who received a letter of the breach can contact TransUnion Credit Bureau at 855-288-5422 for more information if they believe their identities may have been compromised.