Comptroller of Public Accounts Susan Combs is sending letters to notify Texans whose personal information was inadvertently disclosed on an agency server that was accessible to the public. The records of about three and a half million people were erroneously exposed.
“I deeply regret the exposure of the personal information that occurred and am angry that it happened,” Ms. Combs said in a statement. “I want to reassure people that the information was sealed off from any public access immediately after the mistake was discovered and was then moved to a secure location. We take information security very seriously and this type of exposure will not happen again.”
The vulnerable individuals include participants ih the Texas Teacher Retirement System and the Employees Retirement System. Since the latter administers the health benefits for community and technical college educators, all two-year college employees may be at risk.
The exposed records contained the names and mailing addresses of individuals, Social Security numbers and, to varying degrees, other personal information such as dates of birth or driver’s license numbers. All the numbers were embedded in a chain and not in separate fields, according to a statement from the comptroller.
There is no indication yet that the personal information was misused, according to Ms. Combs.
Here's the press release, with more details and contact information.
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