At some point, I think I would enjoy sitting down with DHHS Deputy Chief Legal Counsel John Martin for a chat “about stuff.” I have to admit; he’s probably the most responsive guy in State Government I’ve had to do business with. That said…
I had put in my “missive” concerning how it appeared that DCYF had doxxed TMEW and myself to people we don’t know (The Daughter-in-Law’s family and ex-spouses; a couple of the latter are also “abusers”) such that those people could then reach out to The Granddaughter to say “Hi!” et al.
Emphasis mine, reformatted:
My Daughter-in-law, Mother of my Granddaughter [that we are caring for], just called me to let me know that DCYF has released my personal information…While she did not catch/remember the name that called, she was told that DCYF was contacting her family members and friends to let them know where my Granddaughter can be found to contact her and she remembered some of the family names enumerated over the phone.
HOW DARE YOU release my information to people that I do not know!
Subsequent to that, I was told that some of the “ex-husbands” of that family member set are “abusers” of one type or another. A family friend that works dispatch for first responders was agog over this. I told that friend that I demanded to have the complete list because of the above, and that would explain that at some 3 am time of the morning, they’d be hearing from me in no uncertain terms.
But that’s not the purpose of this post. My email to DCYF on this went out at 12:57 PM yesterday. At 1:30 pm, I got my response from Mr. Martin:
—— Original Message ——
From “Martin, John” <John.B.Martin@dhhs.nh.gov>
To “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
Date 6/30/2023 1:30:55 PM
Subject RE: Has DCYF now breached my PERSONAL information?I will see that this gets to the right people for response.
We have a saying here at GraniteGrok (one of our informal mottoes): Spank’em when they’re wrong but Thank’em when they’re right. I would be morally hypocritical not to take a moment and say thanks for the quick response on this. Thirty minutes, in the area of RTKs, is almost instantaneous. I’m thinking that part of it was the data breach (and now I have thoughts of MORE Right to Knows to create!) and part of it was the danger aspect. No matter which or both, it is appreciated.
NOW, when will I hear back? Probably not until next week due to the long holiday with the Fourth Of July falling on a Tuesday and many folks “filling in vacation days” to have the week off. I am hoping that someone there has the thought “what would happen if someone in that family has a grudge against DCYF and now knows where to go to “send a message” and will bounce it up and down faster to find someone that can get things done quickly.
And as I type this, I’m feeling that I ought to let our local constabulary know of this as well….
