Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NY's Overwhelmed Unemployment Benefits System Leaked Personal Information
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Apr 28, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Apr 28, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The arduous experience of applying for unemployment assistance only intensified for a group of New Yorkers whose personal information—including social security numbers—was erroneously sent to the wrong people over the weekend.
Long Island resident Yvonne Passaro got a letter in the mail on Friday with information about another person with an update on the benefits application, which included their full name, address, social security number, and income information, she told Gothamist.
“I was really shocked because I figured this meant that he had mine or someone else had mine,” said Passaro, who has a 10-year-old son and was working as a teacher's aide and freelance artist. “Now I’m a stranger, and I have all this guy’s information, which I think is totally ridiculous.”
Passaro added, “This is a state department that should be protecting our information and instead they’re sending it out to different people."
According to Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, at least three dozen people were known to have been impacted by the data issue, she said on Monday. “It was a human error—it wasn’t malicious—where two pieces of paper were stuck together and sent,” DeRosa explained.
But on Tuesday, she said an investigation was underway, which may reveal that more people were affected.
"We fear that number is higher but we have isolated the one mailing that it was impacted from," DeRosa said during a Tuesday press briefing when asked about the problem, which was circulating on social media under #NYDataBreach. The individuals who had their claims mailed on that day late last week either have been or will be contacted and their claims processed as a priority. They’ll receive a year's worth of credit monitoring as well.
The backlog of unemployment benefits—400,000 people as of Tuesday—has left thousands without checks amid recession-level mass layoffs and furloughs during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new online portal implemented earlier this month developed by Google Cloud is aimed at speeding up the frustrating process.
Governor Andrew Cuomo says New York is surpassing other states in processing the claims, with $3.1 billion paid out to 1.4 million New Yorkers between March 9th and April 22nd.
"It's not a New York problem. It's a nationwide problem. The number of unemployed hit an all-time high," Cuomo said Tuesday. "Our state is actually doing much better in how many people haven't been able to sign up."
A report in Roll Call found just 12 percent of unemployment claims were awaiting a decision in New York, the tenth lowest percentage among states with the highest unemployment claims.
More than 3,000 labor department representatives are working on the backlog seven days a week, up from 400 people, five days a week, according to the governor’s office. A majority of the unprocessed claims are funded under the expanded pandemic unemployment benefits funded by the federal government under the CARES Act, DeRosa said on Tuesday, though the number continuously fluctuates.
Cuomo said Monday the state will need federal funding to supplement the state-funded unemployment benefits. A spokesperson for Cuomo confirmed the state is applying for a $4 billion zero-interest loan to pay out traditional unemployment benefits. (The expanded pandemic assistance is specifically federally funded.)
“We are running a $10 to $15 billion deficit,” Cuomo said Monday, referring to the broader budget crisis the state is facing. “We’re out of money now.”
When asked by a reporter about how much the state would need, Cuomo added: “It depends how many people moving forward ask for unemployment benefits and how long it goes on—but it’s in the billions of dollars, there’s no doubt about that.”
Passaro’s friend, Joe Rizzo, of Long Island, also received a letter with someone else’s information, but hasn’t been able to get through to the Department of Labor.
“My main concern is my social security number. If someone else has that, they can do anything,” Rizzo said.
He’s been out of work since mid-March after he lost his job at an event planning company that managed tech and audio for large events. He spoke with Attorney General Letitia James' office, who told him the Department of Labor would call him.
“I don’t even understand how a mistake like that can be made at this point. It seems really weird to me,” Rizzo said. “I just want the Department of Labor to call me or answer me.”
Bed-Stuy resident Dustin, who asked that we withhold his last name, said he got a packet of information for his benefits determination, but the front page had someone else’s information.
“It was unsurprising to me considering just how messy this whole process has been,” said Dustin, who lost his job after theaters shuttered in NYC.
He said he contacted the DOL via Twitter and received a call from an official who was apologetic and said he would get a free year of credit monitoring.
“I think people really need a figurehead to be helping them through this unemployment process and they’re not getting it. If Twitter is the only place they can actually find information and receive messages from people, that seems problematic,” he said.
The data breach did fast-track his application, which has pending since early April. His application has been bumped up from a pending period to a waiting period.
“It was nice to get a callback and they seem to be trying to move ahead with everything,” he said.
Tagged
COVID-19
Unemployment
coronavirus
Sydney Pereira
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot by ICE in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park on Monday.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 12, 2026 at 11:37 a.m. ET
NY measles spread prompts 'disaster' emergency. It didn't have to be this way, health commissioner says.
The state health commissioner says the disease outbreak is wholly preventable.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
News
NY measles spread prompts 'disaster' emergency. It didn't have to be this way, health commissioner says.
The state health commissioner says the disease outbreak is wholly preventable.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
NYC wants to move deliveries onto the waterways. It's starting with a 55-year-old boat.
By
Liam Quigley
Inside the luxury Greenpoint high-rise powered by a rumbling generator for over a month
By
David Brand
Mayor Mamdani orders review of NYPD use of force policies
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .