Conduent: NY child support info on someone’s kitchen table?
For almost a year, I processed payments and have done data entry for various tasks for Conduent, the vendor who handles back-end services for child support in New York state. I worked for a staffing agency that services Conduent. Ever call the hotline? Ever receive documents or payment coupons? Yup, that’s them!
Up until August 26th, 2026, I had to keep quiet about for whom I actually worked, even though it Conduent’s vendorship was never secret, especially given that its name and email addresses are on payment coupons.
I was definitely not allowed to give people details about what I did. Under no circumstances was I to say anything about child support. Well, folks, the muzzle is off and I am ready to blow more than one whistle.
Full disclosure: I was fired for responding to a company write-up by standing up for myself. I was harassed in the workplace and for standing up for myself, I was fired. That is retaliation. I’ve already retained an attorney who is very interested. Even in an “at will” state, you can sue for wrongful termination and this is one of those times.
The company that I will be discussing is Conduent, a company most recently known for suffering a data breach. In fact, their breach was among the largest breaches in the nation. They affected around 24 million people. That’s important because they had all that data and screwed up. They are a big company: they do a lot of different things. State and federal government work, Fortune 100 companies and more.
That same company essentially runs the state’s child support system. If a company can’t protect that data, then why does New York continue to renew their contract? If their child support data is breached, lot of people, including children will be affected.
Before continuing, I should let you know that I am intentionally not giving names, even though doing so would be well-deserved. That, and I don’t want to hear anybody whining about hitting below the belt. Therefore, the only information given in this article will be a publicly available address.
Oh, another reason that I am not giving names is that I don’t want to be the reason angry non-custodial parents show up at their houses. Even the person who authorized my firing doesn’t deserve that. Well, maybe she does, but she has children and they don’t deserve to be dragged into this.
My days were pretty much set in stone. In the morning, I would process payments manually. Yup, even in 2026, that’s still a thing. I, and several others, would review every check, money order and bank checks. I have seen checks for a penny and I have seen them for as much as $300,000. Processing is easy. Deciphering messy handwriting? Not so much.
If someone’s paycheck is dinged for child support, it goes where I worked. The state can also take unemployment, SSDI, disability, tax refunds and pretty much everything else. A lot of men assume that once the kid hits 21, it’s over. Depending on how far behind and how poor the man is, the child will get payments well into their thirties. It’s my guess that they took it out on us by way of sloppy handwriting.
My biggest issue in was dealing with sloppy handwriting. On a form like this, facts matter. I would sometimes do 120 a day or more. The form asks for name, address, date of birth, social security number and so forth. That means that I, and people like me, had access to very sensitive information.
Every day up until I started working from home. Yup! A company with at least one major data breach lets employees work from home. More on that later. Before working from home, I reported to Conduent’s facility at 1205 Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham, a suburb of Albany.
Is posting the address a threat to their safety? Not because of me. Someone (I can’t imagine who!) taught Google AI. Oh, and one other thing: Conduent itself has the address on its website.
Granted, I’m the one who exposed the fact that child support work goes on in there. Conduent must not be all that scared if they post the address.
It is my understanding that people in the building are scared of this article. Not my problem.
Apparently, people think posting the information is threatening their safety. I highly doubt that, and I don’t really care, but now that the information is out there and has been available before this article was published, I am glad that I no longer report there.
One of these days, some non-custodial parent is going to go full retard and I won’t be there to be a victim. In fact, there’s a guy works in Image Data Control. He is obese and wears hoodies in the summer. Just by looking at him, you can see that if anyone shoots the place up (doubtful), it’s going to be him. At least in my opinion. No, I won’t be there if and when something happens, but I will laugh at those who will be. But let’s be real: no one is in any real danger.
I did not post secret information: you can easily pull Conduent up on Google, as you can see to the left To be fair, you would have to know specifics, because everywhere else, people are pointed to state offices downtown. That means that the average person can’t find it. The average person would be sent downtown. But the Latham address is out there. I’m just adding a picture in case someone needs it. All I’ve done is let people know that child support work is done there.
The concern, I think, is that an angry father who just woke up to a levied bank account would find the place and try to get in. Well, the building is secure. Or so they say. Let me let you in a little secret: it ain’t all that secure! First, there is no security to speak of, and certainly no armed guards. Just telling it like it is.
In order to get in, you do have to ring a doorbell that has a camera. You then have to tell them what your business is. But to be honest, it won’t take too much effort. They are way too trusting. You’d just say that you have an interview or a delivery. And with that, the door will unlock and you are halfway there.
They don’t have a list of scheduled interviews, which is another security risk, so just say you’ve got an interview with someone but you forgot who. Someone will be summoned. They will open the door to the inside lobby. Simple.
There is a door that you will find if you walk past the front doors and hang a right behind that building. That door is a designated evacuation route in the case of an incident. Out that door will rush IDC people were somebody to pull something. Not really exciting, but it’s worth mentioning and worth knowing.
As further proof that their security is lacking, tailgaiting is acceptable to Conduent. That’s when you let the person behind you in without that person using their badge first. It’s a huge security concern that management knows about but lets happen. This is the ideal way to let bad things happen. The fact that something bad hasn’t happened yet is amazing beyond words.
The simple fact is that they’re sitting ducks because people think nothing of letting the person behind them right on in. And their “emergency” exit is useless if someone worked the front while another worked the back. I really don’t think anyone would do anything, but if I can be of service, then I will be.
Turnover is so high in the call center that people don’t even glance at the person behind them first. That’s the best way for someone to get in. If someone were intent on getting in, it wouldn’t take any effort.
On to photography. It is forbidden. Phones must be stowed away in lockers. That’s what the state thinks is happening. That’s the expectation. In reality, almost everyone has their phones in their pockets so they can listen to their music. Sometimes, a phone will ring. People openly text from their desks. It’s funny. Management does nothing about it. I don’t know what they’re telling the state, but I can tell you for certain: the phones are out on the floor!
Over the time I was there, before I started working from home, I saw one woman discreetly take a shot of her screen on two occasions. And one guy in my morning department. They are still working there. She saw me and panicked. I just smiled and gave the thumbs up. I of course told no one. Don’t misunderstand me: I never took a picture inside other than the one below, which I took in the lobby when I returned my equipment to show that I did in fact return it.
Management has no idea as to what’s going on and doesn’t know about what’s about to happen. The potential for another data breach is off the charts and it’s happening right in front of management.
Most of the employees work out of that building. There quite a few people, however, who do work from home. Until I was fired, as I stated, I was one of them. They gave me company-issued equipment, including two monitors, a keyboard and a ThinkCentre device that looks like a DVD player. On this computer, all of the sensitive information I’ve mentioned is stored. But it is highly secure.
I can no longer drive because I have epilepsy and that’s why, so when I couldn’t get a ride, I’d take either an Uber or a bus. I initially started working from home on a trial basis of two days a week. That was two days per week of shuttling the device on a bus. Losing that would not have been good news.
Just imagine that news story: is your child support information private? Well, your data may just have taken a ride on CDTA! But again, with the security measures, the thing would be useless to anyone, except randos trying to sell it online, or to druggies trying to sell it so they can score.
I am sure that the state would not be thrilled to learn that their data is on a bus. Those of us who worked from home are supposed to set up a private area where they can work while keeping things private. At least that’s how it’s supposed to be. I know of one WFH who claimed that she set her gear up on her kitchen table with kids running around and adults being able to see very sensitive information. I can’t imagine the state being happy with that one.
I can honestly tell you that Conduent does not care about security, because I informed both of my supervisors that I have Spectrum’s Invincible WiFi. Essentially, it keeps a battery charged. That battery is linked to the router and the modem, so when the power does go out, you will not lose internet access for up to around eight hours. I happen to have a portable mini-UPS, so I could have continued working if my power went out.
One time, I did lose power. I kept working, and that would piss the state off. Why? Here’s the problem: when the internet does go out, your internet connection is switched to 5G. The state doesn’t want its at-home people using that, yet both of my supervisors approved it. Scary!
I had the power to do a lot of damage but did not. Not intentionally, anyway. I made a private area for my desk and setup. I took it seriously. But what if someone spends the afternoon photographing documents in an effort to financially wreck someone’s life? Is it really worth the risk? Since Conduent can’t seem to get it together, the state needs to find a better vendor.
Yes, that check from your personal checking account that you paid your child support with? All that information is in someone’s home. The forms you or your employer fill out? Yup, in someone’s home. How does that make you feel? Anyone could be looking at your data. Neighbors, friends, children, other family…it’s scary.
Then there’s the call center, as I alluded to before. That’s where your calls go if you’re a parent or an employer. What surprised me is the fact that the call center for the state’s hotline is almost completely black. The surprise? Finding that many black people with clean backgrounds!
In the morning, I worked in the department where physical payments were sent to our building. That PO box that comes up on Google? All of that goes to Conduent. Some days, there was a full day’s work, but before I got fired, the work was lacking I got sent to my afternoon department, Image Data Control. More on that in a bit.
Sometimes, when seeing images of the scans, one in the OpenKey environment, I’d see a letter some father wrote a note, thinking that would work. I would read sob stories, threats against us (ignored) and the building and, one time, a threat of suicide.
That happened one day in late August 2026. A paper personal cheque was in my queue. Okay, no problem. I keyed the check and checked the scanned envelope for additional information. There was a letter scanned in. I would always read the letters just in case there were instructions for allocation between case numbers or whatever.
On this particular letter, there was a handwritten threat. Against himself. Clearly looking to be a drama queen, he claimed that if we cashed the check, he would kill himself because the state apparently seized everything he had. Yes, whenever you get behind on your child support, you will lose anything and everything. That does mean that you could wind up on a park bench in a wicked winter storm with nowhere to go and nothing to eat.
As for our crybaby, that was his fault, not ours. Anyway, I laughed and sent the drama to be queued up to go to the bank. He didn’t get his wish. If he really meant it, I didn’t care. And I still don’t!
On another occasion, a guy included a note that read, “I can’t afford this. Please take me off.” Yeah….wow.
When I first started, I was amazed by the number of parents who went full retard. You never go full retard. They went full retard.
What was scary to me was when I was working a document where a parent had printed their name on the signature line. Surely that’s invalid, right? No. So few people are learning cursive these days that the government now allows printed signatures.
As I’ve mentioned, in the afternoon, I would work in Image Data Control. As the name implies, documents are scanned and then I and many others would key that information into the system so that different state personnel can do their jobs.
The most frustrating queue for me there was the Putative Father Registry. That’s the form that unwed parents acknowledge the father’s claim to paternity. On that form goes names, DOBs, SSNs, addresses…everything a bad actor would want. Thankfully, I’m not a bad actor.
The PFR was frustrating because the sloppy handwriting. They have to be doing it intentionally!
The were other queues, such as the one where employers respond to the state’s request for information. There are many more.
Going back to the PFR, everyone has to do it, even celebrities. On what would wind up being my last day, I processed a form for a certain performer who is very well known. Her specialty is so unique that if I gave even a vague description, you’d know who she is. Most of the information on the form is listed on Wikipedia, so I suppose I could name her, but why?
Sure, I could have taken a photograph of her form with my cell phone while working from home, but that’s not right. Even if I got away with it, it’s still not right. I can honestly tell you that I’ve never photographed even one document.
Conduent violates labor laws. Somehow, I’m not surprised. And one time, the order came from the president of the company! Sometimes, people forget their password. It happens. Unfortunately, with their current systems, it can take half an hour before that person logs in. This means that you have nothing to do. That part is not their fault.
No, Conduent does not think that laws apply to them. In the summer of 2026, the president ordered that any employee who gets locked out will not be paid for that time. Problem is, that violates New York state law. In this situation, the employee is “engaged to wait” and must be paid for that time. This has been reported to the Labor Department and retroactive pay might be paid to everyone who was ripped off.
When my supervisor told me about the new policy when I got locked out, admittedly due to my own carelessness. Well, I just smiled and acknowledged it. I knew that that was illegal. I thought to myself that the president should have spoken with corporate counsel first. I am owed a half an hour. It’s petty, but this is about principle. I decided not to warn her. I could have been a good guy and given her a heads up, but…nah.
I am not all that upset over being fired because in the weeks leading up to the incident, they had such little work that they sent people home early several times. Then, large amounts of work come in and you’re expected to drop everything and stay for two hours. Scheduling your life around Conduent is impossible.
My firing is not as upsetting as it normally would be, due to the fact that I would have had to quit on that Friday, meaning just two days. Why not just drop this then? Principle.
A lot of things are going on over there. People are making their own Microsoft Teams chat rooms and management has yet to reign it in. They don’t police those rooms, which is why the guy who harassed me got away with it. And how dare I stand up for myself! That’s a hostile work environment. It may take a beat, but they have won the battle, whereas I will win the war.
Speaking of Teams, sensitive information is freely shared in an open chat room. Names, dates of birth, SSN. All this despite the fact that there may have been people in the chat room not cleared to receive such information. I’m thinking the state wouldn’t like that either!
People are in fact taking pictures of screens. They have it down to a science. Management either doesn’t know or doesn’t care.
So anyway, there’s your peek behind the curtain. Nothing earth-shaking, nothing mind-blowing. But it shows how things work behind the scenes. And if you’re in the child support system, you have no choice but to bend over and take it up the tailpipe!
Oh yes, sleep tight knowing that your information is in someone’s house, for a company with a major data leak! When my staffing agency informed me my assignment was over, I was still in the Conduent system. Still logged into everything. Common sense states that you disable someone’s access before the firing. Given those two things, all you can do is wish and hope that your data will be secure.
I am not done yet. There are more steps to this multi-phase campaign. I left behind gifts that they’re still discovering. I have a feeling that this article will bring about much-needed change. What a way to go!
There are updates: 9/20/2016
9/21/2026
The purpose of this article is not revenge. The lack of desire for revenge is because, due to a family situation, I would have had to quit a few days later anyway. No, I am exposing things that are being done that shouldn’t be done, which makes me a whistleblower speaking out to give the state reason to seek a new vendor, when the contract is up for bids. Nothing in this article is intended to threaten anyone’s safety
I have reported the wage theft policy to the Department of Labor, I’ve referred the state to this article and there is still more to come in the weeks ahead. Do not misunderestimate me.
(Last revision: 21 September 2026 6:18 pm)