The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio recently called on Gov. Ted Strickland and other officials to enact regulations protecting private information kept in state databases.

The ACLU first pressed for reform after it was revealed officials at Ohio’s Department of Job & Family Services conducted a search of private information on Joseph Wurzelbacher, also known as “Joe the Plumber,” and that such searches of those in news headlines were common protocol for the office.

News reports indicate nearly half a dozen other state agencies conducted searches on Wurzelbacher’s information without due cause.

“It is appalling that state officials believe they may violate a person’s private information simply because they appeared in a newspaper story,” said Christine Link, executive director of ACLU of Ohio. “This illustrates how woefully inadequate Ohio’s privacy protections are for its vast database of personal information.”

The ACLU of Ohio first spoke about the invastion of Wurzelbacher’s privacy after it was revealed Helen Jones-Kelly, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, authorized a check of his information in state databases without any legitimate reason to do so. She told the press it was common practice for employees to check the information of anyone who is in a news headline, such as lottery winners.