database security and humility

Last year, Virginia’s statewide prescription drug database was hacked, exposing over 35 million prescription records affecting 530,000 people. So much for the arrogance of government database security!
We can hope that one lesson officials draw is not to keep any information that isn't absolutely necessary. "Social Security numbers have since been scrubbed from the system." Another lesson is that no data can ever be guaranteed secure. If you want more details, read the Virginian Pilot article.