The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology issued a press release that announced $3 million in grants for projects intended to “improve online security and privacy.” The grants would help keep people’s private information safe through the creation of new ID recognition systems that would eliminate the need for multiple passwords and foster a “marketplace of online identity solutions.”
The Wednesday press release was meant to reassure the public that the federal government had the data security issue well in-hand. It had one problem, though: It included the wrong contact information.
People with questions were told to call NIST spokeswoman Jennifer Huergo but the number originally listed, 301-975-6353, was not hers, but that of another, understandably confused, Commerce Department employee. Huergo’s extension is actually 6343. The error remained online until Friday afternoon when the Washington Examiner contacted NIST.
“That’s terrible … Sorry about that,” said a rather chagrined Huergo. The release was subsequently updated to the include the correct phone number.
