Man Seeks $50,000 from City After Private Info Posted to EP Website

Kenneth Foley, the other person whose social security number and other personal information was posted on East Providence's website this summer, has filed a claim asking the city for 5 years credit monitoring and $50,000.

The posting of Foley's and Jo-Ann Durfee's name, date of birth, address and social security numbers to the city's website occurred in July, Foley says in an Oct. 28 letter making the claim against the city. He updated the claim with detailed figures on his credit monitoring and monetary compensation requests in a Nov. 4 letter to City Solicitor Tim Chapman. 

Over the summer, the City held a Council meeting addressing citizen's concerns of cleanup of construction and demolition waste at the Pond View property in Rumford. The city posted a packet of information on its website in preparation for that meeting, including a police report of Durfee's complaints of noise and activity during inappropriate hours, with the personal information included.

Unlike the other identifying information, social security numbers are not included in police reports released to the public. The information remained on the City website for two weeks, exposing each to risk of identity theft. Durfee made her own claim against East Providence Oct. 5, seeking $75,000, twenty years of credit monitoring and an explanation.

The explanation was addressed in former City Manager Peter Grazykowski's response to Foley's letter, albeit briefly and not in detail: "...this certainly was a clerical error on the City's part, and I hope you accept our sincerest apology," Grazykowski wrote.

The claim has been referred to the City's insurance company, the RI Interlocal Trust. If they decline to cover the City, Chapman will defend East Providence in court.