Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. Military Absentee Ballot is a Major Privacy Risk

Via Defense Tech.

American troops could be putting their most personal information at risk -- just by voting in next week's elections.

Members of the armed forces, stationed overseas, can cast their vote with a Federal Write In Absentee Ballot, or FWAB, if they can't get one from their local election boards. But that federal ballot, "Standard Form 186 (Oct 95)" comes with a major privacy risk, at least in some editions.

The ballot has to be mailed in a special return envelope, in order to be properly processed. On military bases in the Pacific, Special Form 186 requires a service member to include his address, social security number, date of birth, and signature on the outside of that envelope.

posted by Fergie @ 10/31/2006 03:29:00 PM