[Dataloss] At Least 20 Big-Name Passports Breached

[Richard Forno]

At Least 20 Big-Name Passports Breached
Last Edited: Wednesday, 26 Mar 2008, 6:47 PM EDT

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WASHINGTON  --  State Department workers viewed passport applications
containing personal information about high-profile Americans, including the
late Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith, at least 20 times since January
2007, The Associated Press has learned.

That total is far more than disclosed last week with the news that
presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama
had been victims of improper snooping.

An internal department review has found the additional instances of
department employees or contractors looking at computerized passport files
of politicians and celebrities, according to preliminary results.

It has not been determined if the new cases also involved improper peeking,
officials familiar with the review said Wednesday. Smith's case, however,
seems legitimate, the officials said. The review is not complete and the
exact number of cases was not yet clear.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the review is going on at the
same time as the department's internal watchdog investigates passport record
security related to the breaches involving the White House candidates.

Smith died in the Bahamas in February 2007. The review of her passport file
appears to have come after a legitimate request from the U.S. Embassy in the
Bahamas for information needed to complete her death certificate, the
officials said.