The biggest threat to your personal identity, as you should know by now, is the government. It has the largest databases, the most information about you, and the most corrupt people. So it’s no surprise that government data about you is a prime target for identity thieves. Here are a few more examples.

Did you apply for a passport in Euless, Texas, last February during a passport fair? If you did, postal inspectors believe a postal worker stole your application and identity documents. As many as 150 people’s documents were stolen, and at least two people have already become victims of identity theft. Postal inspectors knew about the theft but failed to notify the victims beforehand, and as far as anyone knows, the suspect remains at his job.

Last weekend the Stratmoor Hills Water District office in Colorado was broken into, and the only thing believed to be missing is bill payments dropped through the payment drop slot. But officials there have no idea how many customers’ bill payments might have been stolen. The building doesn’t have security cameras or an alarm system. Last week, the government agency mailed about 2,000 water bills out. But bureaucrats there wouldn’t estimate how many people might have dropped off bill payments over the holiday weekend.

And even the bureaucrats aren’t safe. In Chicago, Ill., two laptops stolen from the Chicago Public Schools headquarters last Friday contained the names and Social Security numbers of 40,000 current and former employees. They, however, did have a security camera which apparently captured the image of someone stealing the laptops. The school district sent a letter (PDF) to current employees (former employees have to download a copy) offering one year of credit protection and a $10,000 reward “for information leading to the arrest of the offender or recovery of the stolen data.” Good luck.

The biggest breach of the week, however, wasn’t a theft but a loss. In Georgia, bureaucrats shipped a CD containing personal information on 2.9 million Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids recipients, and the shipping carrier promptly lost it. That’s nearly one-third of the state’s population on government programs of dubious merit. Arguments against government provided “health care” aside, as one victim put it, “If somebody has your Social Security number, they can do anything, they can pretty much ruin your life.”

How about if we just get rid of Social Security numbers — not to mention the failed program.