Hard drives sold with US government data
New Jersey state agencies left confidential information on computers set to be sold at auction, according to a report released this week by state Comptroller Matthew Boxer.
An audit by Boxer's office revealed that multiple state agencies disposed of computer equipment without ensuring that data on the devices had been removed. Auditors discovered completed tax returns, Social Security numbers, health records, child abuse papers and a list of login passwords on computers that were shrink-wrapped on pallets at the state's surplus property warehouse ready to be auctioned off to the public.
The comptroller's office intervened to stop the auction after confidential information was discovered on the computers but warned that the state may have inadvertently released personal information in the past. The state gives away or sells hundreds of computers each year, the comptroller's office estimated. “It's certainly a reasonable assumption that before we arrived there was no one to stop computers with confidential data from being auctioned to the public,” said Pete McAleer, a comptroller spokesman.
