Fergie's Tech Blog

Update: Miami-Dade police officer suspended in unauthorized data access

An AP newswire article, via The Mercury News (obnoxious, but free, registration required -- or try using BugMeNot.com), reports that:

A Miami-Dade police officer has been relieved of duty and is under investigation for allegedly obtaining unauthorized access to Social Security numbers and other personal data on as many as 4,689 people maintained by ChoicePoint Inc.

The company, based in Alpharetta, Ga., said Friday that the U.S. Secret Service was investigating the matter but that it was unclear whether any identity theft had occurred.

The employee, ChoicePoint said in a letter to the potentially affected consumers, was not authorized to use the Miami-Dade Police Department's account with the company and ``had accessed information illegally and acted outside the scope of his employment.''

The consumer information accessed, with log-in and password, included Social Security data, drivers license numbers and dates of birth.

Detective Mary Walters, a Miami-Dade police spokewoman, said the officer involved was relieved of duty and an internal investigation was under way.

She declined to provide the officer's name or any details about where in the department the officer worked.

Update: Bob Sullivan writes on MSNBC, that in addition to the Miami-Dade incident:

The three other incidents announced Friday were:

• Two California-based private investigators, Kenneth Beck and Robert Starr, allegedly used ChoicePoint’s data to hunt for possible identity theft victims, Lee said.
• A Texas-based firm named RPM was found to have improperly accessed data.
• An employee of an "accredited insurance” company that ChoicePoint would not name, citing contracts with the firm, was also alleged to have improperly accessed records.

In total, the three incidents resulted in 547 warning notices being sent to victims, Lee said.

posted by Fergie @ 9/16/2005 06:10:00 PM