A private firm working for the Nevada Department of Public Safety has lost personal information provided by 109 individuals seeking jobs with the agency.
Agency spokesman Dan Burns said the applicants are being notified that their personal data, including Social Security numbers, addresses and background check information, has been lost.
The information was stored on a portable computer memory device called a thumb drive that was owned by an employee of Crown, Stanley and Silverman. The company was hired by the department to perform background checks on the applicants.
The agency has ordered the company to stop the background checks and to return all files belonging to the state. The agency also has suspended the use of outside vendors for background checks while a review of procedures is conducted.