[Dataloss] Former TSA workers' data exposed

[security curmudgeon]

Courtesy: "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson

---------- Forwarded message ----------

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-06-tsa-identities_x.htm

Former TSA workers' data exposed
Posted 9/6/2006 1:10 AM ET
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY

The Transportation Security Administration is warning 1,195 of its former 
employees that a contractor may have mailed their Social Security numbers 
and birth dates to the wrong addresses and left them open to identity 
fraud.

The error, acknowledged in letters the TSA mailed in late August to each 
of the former employees, is the latest in a series of data breaches that 
may have exposed workers in both private and government jobs to identity 
thieves.

"Making a mistake like this is abominable," said Beth Givens, director of 
the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, an advocate for consumer privacy. 
"You've got an agency whose mission is security."

The TSA is part of the Homeland Security Department. Its 55,000 employees 
primarily run airport security.

[..]