If the VA can do it....

So can the City of Deerfield Beach. The town where my alma mata is saw its City Manager warn city Friday that their Social Security and other personal data may have been stolen.

And some people say Florida is behind the times.

Open Post- Bright & Early, TMH's Bacon Bits,

The memo, sent to all 564 full-time and 243 part-time employees by e-mail, fax or other means, says the possible illegal copying of city documents was reported to the Broward Sheriff's Office and is being investigated.

Deetjen said he contacted the city's elected officials to let them know their information may have been also compromised.

Deetjen's memo urged employees to place a fraud alert on their credit files as a precautionary measure and listed the toll-free numbers of all three major credit bureaus.

Fire-Rescue Lt. Doug Watler, president of the fire union, said he was worried that sensitive data was accessible by the wrong people.

"This should have been something guarded by finance or the city manager's office, with all the problems with identify theft that are common now," Watler said.

Watler also wanted to know why employees weren't alerted by Deetjen until late Friday.

"If someone is leaving for the weekend, they won't know about it until someone contacts them directly," he said.

Deetjen said he contacted Federal Trade Commission officials after being told someone may have made copies of the employees' personal data. The FTC advised him to alert the police. Deetjen said he called the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday.

"We still haven't been able to conclude that any information left City Hall," Deetjen said. "I do not know that for a fact. We're doing this because I don't want to take that chance."