Apply for a passport, get a stranger's personal information

[Spencer]

Gosh, I can't wait until our DNA and medical records are in the hands of the federal government!

Teen gets passport for 37-year-old man

Fri Jun 1, 8:04 PM ET

Eager to get her passport, a teenage girl received a package and found one inside — for a 37-year-old man. A passport, birth certificate and Social Security card for the man arrived Wednesday at the Utah County home.

Danelle Shrader, 15, got the right one Thursday.

"Every time I go (on a plane), I have to take off my shoes," her father, Steve Shrader, said. "The State Department can't even get the right passports to everybody.

"Identity theft is a huge deal. And who's to say I'm not a criminal?" he said. "And now this poor guy — I've got his birth certificate, I've got his Social Security information, I've got his passport. I bet I could sell it for $1,000."

A spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs said it was a rare mistake.

"It is serious. We recognize that and we want to fix it," Steve Royster said.

The Shraders were advised to return the passport and other documents to a federal office in San Francisco.

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Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldextra.com

[toowm]

My wife and I both applied for passport renewals last year. I got mine, she never got hers (although the check was cashed). She had to pay again, and extra, to get a new passport, that has a new number. This was a "courtesy" and she will not be allowed another passport if this one is lost or stolen.

[Dreepa]

My wife and I both applied for passport renewals last year. I got mine, she never got hers (although the check was cashed). She had to pay again, and extra, to get a new passport, that has a new number. This was a "courtesy" and she will not be allowed another passport if this one is lost or stolen.

My wife had to jump through some huge hoops this year and pay extra because the State Dept.. screwed up her passport docs.
We may be going to Canada next year.. I guess the kids have to get their passports 

[Rochelle]

Yea, it's ridiculous. Even babies have to have passports now. Previously you just had to take their birth certificates with you and it was as though they were covered by the parents' passports.

[Edwin Sheldon]

I had a passport when I was an infant.  Right after I was born, my dad got stationed in West Germany.  Being the dutiful government automaton that he was, he got me a passport before the flight over.  My face was red, my eyes weren't open, and my hair stood on end.  The photo is either cute or scary, depending on how you look at it.  Shame I don't still have it . . .