Self defense for college-bound students Aug. 7

Document shredding opportunity at CHSAS Aug. 11

CHICAGO – Area residents are invited to protect themselves from identity theft by taking advantage of a free document shredding event at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences Saturday, Aug. 11.

State Senator Bill Cunningham and State Rep. Fran Hurley are co-hosting the service, which will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. at the school, located at 3857 W. 111th St., Chicago.

Residents can bring confidential documents that are printed with personally identifiable information to be safely shredded. This includes old bank statements, old pay stubs, tax returns older than 7 years, bills, receipts, invoices, credit card applications and outdated medical records. (More details about what will or won’t be accepted can be found below.)

Some restrictions apply:

• The service is free and available to residents of the 18th Senate District and the 35th House District. No commercial document shredding available.
• Participants are limited to two boxes per car.
• Paper clips, staples and other bindings should be removed from all documents before shredding.
• Cardboard boxes may not be left at the event site.
• Shredding will be done until the shred trucks reach capacity.

Read more …

Protect your identity, shred your personal documents Aug. 3

WORTH – Area residents are invited to protect themselves from identity theft by taking advantage of a free document shredding event in Worth Friday, July 13.

State Senator Bill Cunningham and State Rep. Fran Hurley are co-hosting the service, which will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. at Worthwoods School, 11000 Oketo Ave. in Worth.

Read more …

Rauner’s Crosscheck veto inexcusable after Russian hacking

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed legislation Tuesday that would have ended Illinois’ participation in the controversial Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which is used to detect voters who are registered in more than one state. Critics say the system is a cybersecurity liability has been used to suppress minority voters by purging valid voters from voter rolls in other states.

The legislation, Senate Bill 2273, would have required Illinois to use the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) instead of Crosscheck. ERIC uses tougher security protocols and more information to guarantee that personal information is correct and safer from hacking.

Rauner’s veto came days after the U.S. Justice Department announced it had indicted 12 Russian military officers for hacking voter data systems throughout the nation, including systems in Illinois.

State Senator Bill Cunningham, a Democrat representing Chicago and the Southwest suburbs who chairs the Senate’s Telecommunications and Information Technology Committee, issued the following statement in response to the governor’s veto:

“It’s inexcusable that within days of federal prosecutors indicting Russian cyber-spies for hacking the personal data of Illinois voters, Gov. Rauner vetoed a bill designed to secure Illinois election systems. Gov. Rauner chose to leave Illinois vulnerable to data breaches in order to preserve the Crosscheck system, which has been used in blatant voter suppression tactics for partisan advantage. He placed the political benefit of his party over the personal data security of Illinoisans.”

Read more …