Lost charge card data raises ire of Senate leader
Susan Collins questions heads of Bank of America and GSA about loss of government workers’ personal information.
The recent admission by Bank of America that it had lost tapes containing government charge card account information has drawn congressional attention, with harshly worded letters from a key senator to the heads of the bank and the General Services Administration.
Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote on Tuesday that she was "deeply concerned to learn" that the bank lost five computer backup tapes containing personal information--including names, Social Security numbers and account data--on 1.6 million federal workers from 30 agencies, members of Congress and their staff.
Bank of America maintains that the computer tapes contained the information of 1.2 million government charge card accounts, but would not specify the type of information lost.
The data on the tapes, lost in December during transportation to a backup facility, contained information on federal workers participating in the General Services Administration's "SmartPay" program. GSA officials have said the agency is cooperating with the investigation, but since they are not responsible for the data, there is little they can do.
Collins' letters, one to Bank of America's Kenneth D. Lewis, chairman and chief executive officer, and the other to GSA Administrator Stephen A. Perry, questioned why it took so long for affected employees find out about the incident and why it is unknown whether the tapes were lost or stolen.
"Why did it take two months for affected employees to be notified of what happened?" Collins asked Perry. "In the hands of the wrong people, this data could be used to commit identity theft."
Collins also queried Lewis on the bank's policy for transporting its clients' personal data, and asked what steps had been taken to minimize the damage.
"This incident raises serious questions regarding the protection of federal employees' sensitive personal information," Collins wrote. "I am concerned that this incident occurred in the first place. I am perplexed as to why federal employees were not notified that their identifying information had been compromised until two months after the fact. And I am disturbed that we still do not know whether the tapes were accidentally lost or deliberately stolen."
Bank of America spokeswoman Alexandra Trower said the company does not know how the tapes went missing, but after a "thorough investigation by the Secret Service," they are convinced the tapes are simply lost and were not stolen. "There is no indication that the tapes or their information have been accessed in any way, and we continue to monitor the situation closely," Trower said.
Bank of America is one of GSA's five contractors for the "SmartPay" program, which is used for travel expenditures and purchases of routine supplies and services.