Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Governor Nikki Haley met with her cabinet asking members Thursday to help come up with way they can encourage people to sign up for identify protection services arranged by the state.
The protection, which is offered by Experian, is for people affected by the hacking that's exposed 3.6 million South Carolina Social Security numbers.
"We need you to go to each and every one of your agencies and find out what you can do, because you are as close to the people as it can get, what can you do that can help us get people signed up," Haley told the state department heard.
She says some ideas tossed out were officers handing out information with citations, or a kiosk set up in the DMV.
But before any idea can be put in place they must be reviewed by attorneys working with the state on responding to the breach.
Legal representation did warn the group that taxpayers could not transfer information to state employees in this situation.
Haley challenged her cabinet to her creative with their ideas.
"The reason I went to my cabinet members is because they are as close to the people as it gets so they can go and let them know what the information is," said Haley after the meeting. "If you look at the numbers, the call numbers and the enrollee numbers, it's starting to come together, and it's coming together because people are staring to realize yes I can do this, yes this is how you do it, sharing information with their friends, it's getting out there, we're continuing to try and do that."
Thursday afternoon Haley said 653,000 had called the identity protection hotline. She says 521,00 have signed up so far.
Haley asked cabinet members to submit their ideas to her office by the end of the work day on Tuesday.
You can sign up for the protection on the phone completely, or you can use the website listed below. Just type in "scdor123" as the activation code.
Call -1-866-578-5422. The call center is open 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM EST on Monday through Friday and 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM EST on Saturday and Sunday.
www.protectmyid.com/scdor Activation code: "SCDOR123"