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Check your account: New Florida assistance portal linked woman’s, stranger’s info

New MyACCESS portal was launched last week

Following the launch of the state’s My Access Portal for SNAP and Medicaid benefits, a South Florida woman said personal information for a stranger and her baby have appeared on her mother’s account.

Mary Lane said she recently transitioned the account for her 77-year-old mother and noticed private information for other state benefit recipients on her mother’s account.

Lane said she called the customer service line and was told the state would need about five days to remedy the situation.

“These two cases are somehow linked and I don’t know how that happened,” Lane said. “If it got mixed, is there a database behind this how bad it is? How many people are affected? How many accounts were affected? And does it have an impact on what people’s benefits are given by the state?”

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Lane said she’s concerned more Floridians have had their medical privacy information and other records revealing their identity, handed to strangers.

“I don’t want my mother to be negatively impacted, but I also don’t want this other woman and her child to be negatively impacted,” Lane said.

Two weeks ago, the Florida Department of Children and Families posted an instructional video to YouTube, demonstrating a My Access Portal user must provide their name, zip code and Medicaid case number. Lane said that’s the same information the state gave her for the stranger.

The website was touted as more convenient and secure for users.

After speaking with customer service, Lane said she was told the agency was aware of the privacy issue.

“They didn’t ask any questions, that’s why. They didn’t sound surprised and, said ‘Yeah, I know,’” Lane said.

DCF confirmed they received our request for a statement and/or interview on the matter, but have not provided anything specific to our request at this time.

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About the Author
Troy Campbell headshot

Troy graduated from California State University Northridge with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. He has reported on Mexican drug cartel violence on the El Paso/ Juarez border, nuclear testing facilities at the Idaho National Laboratory and severe Winter weather in Michigan.

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