Anthony to spend $4,000 to protect town employees from identity theft after mayor’s mistaken ‘data breach’

ANTHONY, Texas -- The Town of Anthony Council agreed Monday night to spend $4,000 to provide identity theft protection services as a result of a recent "data breach related to town employees personal information."

The breach involved what the mayor called a mistaken release of the social security numbers of 16 current and former town employees when sharing information about worker salaries as part of a budget presentation.

Mayor Benjamin Romero said the image was posted accidentally to social media and was only up briefly before it was taken down. He added that other information shared about town workers, including their salaries, is public record under Texas law.

The town is contracting with Lifelock Security Services to monitor employees' financial accounts and protect them against any potential cases of identity theft. The money to fund it is coming from the town's water and sewer and general fund contingencies.

Fernando Ramirez, a former employee who shared with ABC-7 a redacted image of the information the mayor posted, had described prior to the council meeting what he called an "uproar" in the El Paso County community of 5,000 "over having the mayor post their social security numbers on Facebook while boasting their quarterly finance meetings."