Employers are now required to make sure that potential personnel are not on the no-hire registry.
That makes sense but things got complicated when it came to the technology used in operating the registry.
Center lawyers concluded that the seemingly obsolete technology of faxing provided more security than email, given the possibility of hacker attacks, at least in the short-term.
Agencies may also have limited capacity to send encrypted or otherwise protected email.
“In most cases the Internet right now is not safeguarded to the correct level,” said center spokeswoman Diane Ward.
But all those names, which will run into the hundreds or even thousands during a month, were being funneled through a single fax machine located in a secure room at the center’s Bethlehem headquarters.
That led to an overload of the machine, which in turn necessitated the request that applicant lists be sent between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.