The Brouhaha Over Outsourcing Traffic Ticket Data Processing

Tomorrow will be a big day at the Board of Supervisors. In addition to voting on Sup. Moorlach's request to rescind the AOCDS' retroactive pension spike, the Board will deal with the fallout over the OC Court's outsourcing of traffic ticket data entry to Cerritos-based CCDE -- which has the actual data entry performed at a facility in Nogales, Mexico.

Personally, I don't think the outsourcing is that big a deal, although I'd like to know whether CCDE has conducted its own back-ground checks on the Nogales personnel doing the data entry.

But it's conjures (rightly or wrongly) a powerful cocktail of emotional issues: outsourcing, relations with Mexico, national and border security, drug trafficking.

And although the Board of Supervisors has no control over the contract, they now have to react politically as if they did -- thanks to John & Ken not bothering to do their homework and verifying the details of the story that was leaked to them before going public with the story.

Tomorrow, the Board members will each get a chance to expostulate on the issue and will likely -- and wisely -- pass a resolution criticizing the courts for outsourcing the data entry. This is especially important for the most politically vulnerable supervisor, Janet Nguyen, who can ill-afford to be the target next spring of negative mailers attacking her on an issue with which she had nothing to do. Voting for a resolution condemning the contract will serve of something of a shield, and provide handy content for "tough on border security" mailers.

Comments

[calwatch]

Generally, outsourcing isn't that great a deal, but outsourcing of any data outside the US is an extremely bad idea because US laws are powerless against those who might steal the data. You are not going to extradite people from India or Mexico who stole the medical records for blackmail or mass amounts of license data for fake licenses. You can't file charges against the crooked security guard in Bangladesh who let people walk away with information contra to security guidelines. If you have someone in West Virginia or North Dakota doing it, and the stuff leaks out, at least you can arrest the people and send them back to California to stand trial, and that arrest is recorded in the criminal database. Otherwise there are no consequences for information espionage.

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