ATLANTA -- The state Department of Community Health said it has notified state and federal agencies that a Florida company mistakenly put the private records of up to 71,000 Georgians on the Internet.

The records were made available on the Internet for several days by WellCare Health Plans Inc. of Tampa, Fla., and some may have been viewed by unauthorized people, company officials said.

The problem was caused by human error, the Department of Community Health said.

The department said on Wednesday that it has informed the federal Department of Health and Human Services and its Office of Civil Rights; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid; the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs; and the Georgia Attorney General's office about the data breach.

Any exposure of private health information is a potential violation of HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The Department of Community Health said the families whose data may have been accessed are members of the federal Medicaid health program for the poor, and the federal-state PeachCare for Kids program for children of the working poor.

More than 453,000 Georgians are enrolled with WellCare, a care management organization that has contracts with the state to provide services, Department of Community Health spokeswoman Lisa Marie Shekell said.

"It's important for people to understand that they need to take steps to protect themselves against identity theft," Shekell said. "They should be reviewing all credit card information, review other financial account information and watch their accounts for activity that may not be theirs, and then contact that bank or credit card company to make them aware of that activity. People should call 1-888-505-1189."

The state is investigating how long the information was exposed, Shekell said.

The department also said it has required WellCare to provide all affected Georgia families with information in English and Spanish. It said all affected people will be given free credit monitoring services for a year.