Minnesotans were appalled to learn that the personal information of Jeff Kirkwold-- a Minnesota National Guard veteran who served tours of duty in Kosovo and Kuwait, before dying suddenly of a stroke at age 34 in 2013--was swiped in last year's hack of Equifax.
At the time of his death, family had taken all the right steps to let credit rating agencies know of his passing.
The Pope County Tribune reports in Starbuck mom still looking for answers after identity theft of deceased son:
Sue said although she is still waiting for answers from Equifax, that Representative Jeff Backer has reached out to her, and he said he would reach out to lobbyists to help. Several Facebook friends have also reached out to express support for Kirkwold.
“I’ve been in communication with Lori Swanson (Minnesota Attorney General). Her office has been good about getting back to me.”
We curious about why Backer would reach out to lobbyists--who advocate policy on behalf of those who hire or contract with them about policy matters--rather than seeking the services of Minnesota House staff or contacting knowledgeable state employers at the Attorney General's or Commerce department.
The Star Tribune had reported earlier in Mother of dead Minnesota soldier can't get answers on theft of his identity:
“I got no satisfaction,” she said. Then she filed a complaint with Swanson’s office. That prompted a letter from Equifax — apologizing not for breaching Jeff Kirkwold’s privacy, but his mother’s.
That made Sue Kirkwold even madder.
“Are these guys above the law?” she asked. “There just doesn’t seem to be any accountability for these big corporations. You just get buried under their generic letters.”
Perhaps that's because the Minnesota legislature and Governor's Office seem to have become players in a "stakeholders" game, rather than representing the interests of citizens. It's gotten so blatant that in the last session we saw Republican committee chairs turn over the walk through of a couple of bills to lobbyists for private interests.
Backer could have called a hearing in his district to publicly explore this issue, bringing agency personnel and other experts to explore the issue publicly. Instead, he's seeking lobbyists' views. Lovely.
Photo: Jeff Backer, sleeping during last January's Water Summit in Morris, as we reported in Republican guy who voted for Minnesota's buffer bill continues to grandstand against it. We suppose with all his lobbyist friends to supply answers for him, there's no reason for him to stay woke on water quality or identity theft issues.
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