D’Oh! Texas Comptroller Accidentally Posts Personal Info of 3.5 Million Texans Publicly
- Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:51pm by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP/THE BLAZE) — The personal information of about 3.5 million Texans – including addresses and Social Security numbers – was mistakenly posted on public servers controlled by the state comptroller’s office and remained there in some cases for more than a year, the agency said Monday.
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said that in some cases, the data inadvertently released included dates of birth and driver’s license numbers. There was no indication any personal data had been misused.
“I deeply regret the exposure of the personal information that occurred and am angry that it happened,” Combs said in a statement.
Agency spokesman R.J. DeSilva said the personal data was contained within folders on a comptroller FTP site separate from its main page – one that contained hundreds of folders. Some of those folders were security-protected and could only be accessed by state agencies, while others were open to the public.
The personal information was “on a portion of the page where anyone could look,” he said.
Jerry Strickland, a spokesman with the state attorney general’s office, said officials had contacted the FBI to assist in a criminal investigation that began last week. Strickland said he couldn’t comment on whether the information had been misused, citing the active investigation.
From WFAA:
DeSilva said officials discovered the problem March 31 but only notified those agencies it affected Monday.
The information affected was in data transferred by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Employees Retirement System of Texas.
The Teacher Retirement System data was transferred in January 2010 and had records of 1.2 million education employees and retirees, while the Texas Workforce Commission had data on about 2 million individuals listed in an April 2010 information transfer. The records of about 281,000 state employees and retirees were included in an Employees Retirement System’s transfer from last May.
The comptroller’s office will begin issuing letters Wednesday notifying those people whose personal information was mistakenly made accessible to the public.
The personal information was included in data transfers required by state statute. However, the comptroller‘s office’s statement said the data files transferred by those agencies were not encrypted as required by Texas administrative rules.
Also, it said, comptroller‘s office personnel didn’t follow proper procedure and allowed the information to be placed on a server accessible to the public. It stayed on that server “for a long period of time” and wasn’t discovered until March 31, when the comptroller’s office began blocking public access to the files.
“I want to reassure people that the information was sealed off from any public access immediately after the mistake was discovered and was then moved to a secure location,” Combs said. “We take information security very seriously and this type of exposure will not happen again.”
One of the agencies that had data affected, the Employees Retirement System of Texas, was created in 1947 to oversee retirement benefits for state employees. Spokeswoman Mary Jane Wardlow said its executive director was called to the comptroller’s office at 7:30 a.m. Monday and notified of the problem.
“ERS provided the data to the controller as required by law in the secure format that was prescribed by the comptroller and described in the interagency contract between our offices,” she said.
Wardlow said her organization posted a statement on its Website explaining what occurred to members and retirees, and was prepared for a high number of calls of people worried about their personal information being made public. She said she did not know if there had been a greater number of calls than usual Monday.
The divulging of personal information was ironic because Combs has fought to keep state employees’ birthdates private, arguing that releasing them could lead to identity theft.
In December, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the dates of birth of about 145,000 state employees are protected from disclosure because their release would be a “clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” That decision came after Combs appealed a case that began in 2005, when The Dallas Morning News requested an updated state payroll database. Then-Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn released most of it, but excluded birth dates, offering to list workers’ ages instead.
The newspaper said it needed the birthdates to distinguish workers with the same name, and Combs appealed the case to the Supreme Court, clearing the way for the ruling.
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Comments (96)
AmericanWomanFirst
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:56pmManThong
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:23pm
And don’t worry, all your personal and health information that is mandated to be on computer will be promptly protected if accidentally release by the government, too.
Worry? I am not worried about personal and health information accidently being released to “unknown unauthorized entities” it would be more like…my government. You know..those that want to deem you viable or not, risk behavior, you know …those little inconviences laced in bill that we need to pass so we can see what’s in it. No worry sheeple, stand in line, shut up and move along.
Report Post »Zoe
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:47pmGovernment is BROKEN!
Report Post »VENTVSBEATVS
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:43pmI hope I’m not one of the 3.5 million!!!
Report Post »CaptainSpaulding
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:38pmThese people now have your healthcare information.
Have a nice day. :)
Report Post »flyoverbob
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:33pmBetter see what kind of sweet deal she gets after leaving office
Report Post »drago
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:31pmSigh….and in my own state…..
Report Post »Flatwater
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:20pmYeah…Way to go there Lumpy!!!
Report Post »concealled9mms
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:17pmwell where are you loud mouth liberals scum at now the other day you wanted to fire the lady in wisconsin counted the votes even when a stinking liberal that worked with her said nothing was done illegal funny what a bunch of hipocrites you are . you liberals are nothing but a bunch of sheep working for your racist slave master obummer
Report Post »dcwu
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:15pmThe regime needs her skill.
Report Post »AmeriCat
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:15pmThis many?…and from different categories?
About a year ago, when this supposedly happened, wasn’t there a big controversy
in the Texas education system about text books?
…and Liberals were upset with the outcome?
….sabotage?
Report Post »joehanx2
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:14pmall these so called mistakes the posting of ppls records the missing laptops the ppl in charge of these things belong to which party if dems want illegals in country wouldnt they make it easy for them to get ppls identification
Report Post »ZaphodsPlanet
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:12pmIdiot… fire her butt! Along with the IT dept. I live in TX and I hope to God I don’t see one of those 3.5 million letter they’re sending out. What in the hell is wrong with these idiot bureaucrats? And duh…. have someone check the log files on the servers…. and then they’ll be able to see if they were downloaded or not. I‘m assuming they were and that’s why they made the announcement. Also…. whomever “mistakenly” posted the files to the FTP server (IDIOT!!!!!) should also be fired. You don’t make mistakes like this by accident.
Report Post »Living In NYC
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:07pmNice…just like the the govt was suppose to be watching the BP oil rig in the Gulf just before it blew up!
Our govt employees perform at a such a high level…………..NOT!
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:05pmGaff, dilagaff, fubar, and nut said.
Report Post »AmeriCat
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:05pmThis is nothing….
Report Post »……………..compared to what will happen when we get ObamaCare!
GeorgieJo
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:08pmAMERICAT===
Report Post »GET ObummerCare? ITS already LAW Funding started when HE signed it
Check it out if you don’t believe me
AmeriCat
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 11:48pm@Georgiejo
Indeed…at least 105 Billion guaranteed money tucked away in that sucker.
Bachmann and her buddies at least tried to eliminate that part of the bill.
I should have used “when ObamaCare is fully implemented.”
Report Post »And rather than $$, I was referring to all the information
the government will have access to because of ObamaCare,
…..information they most likely will “lose” or use against us.
Entropy
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:04pmThis is what happens when you send a woman to do a man’s job. It is either that, or she did it on purpose.
Report Post »demint.disciple
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:37pmcareful, careful….lol
Report Post »wisdom of aged
Posted on April 12, 2011 at 2:11pmOn purpose for sure and dumb.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:02pmPLEASE tell me she’s a democrap….. please!
Governor Perry, you are “on”!
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:13pm@ myself, KICKAGRANDMA~~~~ Holy smackers, maude…. we may be in that group!
This is NOT good news, folks as my husband and I both retired from slaving in the State of Texas for that great State. Ohhh, boy!
PRAY ON, AMERICA!
Report Post »GeorgieJo
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:00pmIdentity Theft up 400% in Texas 5 seconds after this happened
Report Post »REVerse
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:00pmDidn’t Chavez do this, too? On purpose…
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:07pmThat is what I thought too bro/sis.
Report Post »Buttercup
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:59pmFire her. Period. An educated idiot, no doubt.
Report Post »concealled9mms
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:14pmprobably graduated with the little man child obummer
Report Post »thermonator
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:58pmI surely hope they took this information down before they told everyone about it.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:20pm“The personal information of about 3.5 million Texans – including addresses and Social Security numbers – was mistakenly posted on public servers controlled by the state comptroller’s office and remained there in some cases for more than a year, the agency said Monday.”
I don’t think so. If it’s been up more than a year, it was not taken down expeditiously.
Report Post »thermonator
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:38pmAhhh, no, not that. I mean, before they put their mistake in the news paper.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:57pmGovernment needs to be given LESS information by citizens, not more!
Report Post »TEXAS-T
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:06pmAmen Brother! Just say NO. I did when the school district wanted the SSN on my kids I told them no that I did not have to and they backed down and gave them “ID” numbers, instead of using their SSN as ID’s.
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:14pmWhy we trust our government so much…….they’ve earned the trust we give them!! VERY LITTLE!
Report Post »Secessionwaslegal
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:55pmSad.
Report Post »EP46
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:29pmDon’t worry, that is only 3.5 million illegal votes in Texas…hey, it‘s just a ’vote’.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:55pmI meant door…
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:19pmIt’s ok…you‘re among friends and we don’t judge for fingers getting ahead of thoughts.
Report Post »silentwatcher
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:25pmWe gotcha…..only Trolls will make derogatory comments about a typo….
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:27pm@ Tron
Beckwill Is correct we are pretty good about that on here. If you check almost all of us do that. I figured out what you meant.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 7:54pmGood grief! Show her the dorr.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:05pmYet another reason to keep the government from trying to regulate the Internet – when government fails, it can fail to a much greater extent than can any individual company.
The People need to regulate the government – not the other way around.
Report Post »edcoil
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:14pmShe just won the 3.5 million dollar lottery. Companies pay $1.00 name. She will do fine.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:16pmI sent the link to this story to the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition as a heads up.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:16pmSomeone seriously needs a good and old fashion firing for sheer incompentacy; supposedly none of this information has been used under false manners? We can only find out when criminal matters of identity theft come to light, if there are any involved.
Report Post »ManThong
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:23pmAnd don’t worry, all your personal and health information that is mandated to be on computer will be promptly protected if accidentally release by the government, too.
Report Post »EnoughBS
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:40pmI’m really sure this was an honest mistake!! It’s only 3.5 million people.. come on… lighten up folks..
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:44pmThese are government workers .. like the ones who are going to keep your HEALTH RECORDS private?
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:47pmAll I can say, is that if someone uses her mistake to steal my identity, hoping to profit from it…..boy are they gonna be disappointed!!!
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 8:53pmcan’t trust the govt to do anything right…..
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:13pmWord around Dallas is that all those numbers are now in the hands of illegal mexicans
Report Post »silentwatcher
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:21pmEver see a school of fish on a feeding frenzy? That’s what is happening right now with the type of people who go to extremes to collect such delicate information for illegal gains. They are working fast and hard to collect their delicate morsels.
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:23pmThe same thing will happen to our MEDICAL RECORDS and everything else when the Gov. Takes charge. I have never seen one Gov. Agency do anything that didn’t get messed up.
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 9:47pmStart with her illegal mexican assistant. Thats where you’ll find the leak
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:24pmLa Raza and the Mexican government have perfected ways to screw all of us. BUT what they do isnt against the law
Report Post »nptden
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:37pmAnother reason to can Obama Care…Electronic Medical Record…notice the peeps Obama is giving computer training grants to?.. Nice the way they can ‘share’ things….hmmm….Goebbels and Himmler must be turning in their graves. Big Brother is here….they track ya on GPS, puters and phones. Internet isn’t it great.
Report Post »GODSAMERICA
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:42pmGood old dependable government. Shut down all access to private and personal information to ANY government agency and make it a law that they cannot do anything to find out any information unless it is freely given without duress to a government agency.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on April 11, 2011 at 10:56pmDon’t pretend this was an “accident.“ Rick Perry and his Republican Susan Combs ”accidently” released personal information about teachers and other union members active and retired. Yeah, that’s mistake. Now their bank accounts can be pillaged if they don’t move quickly and spend the next few days changing every account number they have.
This is Republican politics today. They’ve forsaken ethics and embraced the morals of their rich donors. That intimidation may help them in the short run, but eventually the people will understand what their doing.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on April 12, 2011 at 9:57amLuckily – they do not pay taxes. (smile)
Two words- Spell Check!
Report Post »MikeinIdaho
Posted on April 12, 2011 at 9:59amBetter than that, show her the inside of a jail cell.
Report Post »Patrick in AZ
Posted on April 12, 2011 at 2:21pmIn today’s world, I have to wonder if she did it on purpose …
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