On February 25, Bank of America announced that computer data tapes containing personal cardholder information including names, Social Security numbers, addresses and account numbers were lost in shipment to a backup data center. The loss could affect records of about 1.2 million federal government workers and others, including 900,000 in the Defense Department, particularly users of General Services Administration “SmartPay” travel cards. The Secret Service is conducting an investigation into the data loss, with help from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

The development follows the announcement two weeks earlier by ChoicePoint -- one of the largest U.S. consumer data brokers -- that it was notifying thousands of people that criminals fraudulently accessed their personal information and used it to perpetrate identity theft crimes.

A spokesman for the Senate Banking Committee said the committee is considering an investigation into both the ChoicePoint and Bank of America data security breaches. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, says he will hold hearings on identity theft and information brokers. The Judiciary Committee’s Ranking Member, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), said the fact that Senate credit card information was among the government data lost by Bank of America could “help focus Congress’ attention on the growing problem of personal data security and identity theft.”

Data Lost on U.S. Government Workers Credit Accounts (Reuters 2/26/05) 

SmartPay Cardholders Advised to Watch Accounts (Stars and Stripes 3/2/05) 

ChoicePoint Execs Cash Out Amid Breach (CNN Business News 2/25/05) 

ChoicePoint Reported to Have Had Previous ID Theft (Insurance Journal 3/3/05)

March 9, 2005