Peter C. Mastrosimone reports:
A computer disc containing detailed personal information about 969 New Yorkers was lost by a Social Security Administration employee traveling to Queens from the Bronx back in late October.
Three months later, on Jan. 22, the agency sent out letters to those people, explaining the situation and assuring them that officials have not seen any questionable activity that would lead them to believe anyone had found the disc and engaged in identity theft.
The Queens Chronicle learned of the situation last Friday, when a copy of the letter was faxed to the paper’s office.
[…]
The agency took three months to notify people of the mishap because officials wanted to determine how best to go forward, according to Shallman.
“We regret that it took this long to notify people about the loss,” he said in an email. “It took time to thoroughly analyze and identify the loss and determine the best method of proceeding. In the meantime, as the letter states, we have reviewed Social Security records and found no inappropriate activity. We have no indication that any unauthorized individual has actually retrieved or used this personal information.”
The disc was lost as the employee was going to the Queens Social Security hearing office, and the information on it included administrative decisions, medical evidence and internal agency documents containing the people’s names and Social Security numbers.
Read more in the Queens Chronicle.