Snooping into private passport files found widespread

The Washington Post

July 4, 2008

WASHINGTON - Government workers repeatedly snooped without authorization into the electronic passport records of entertainers, athletes and other high-profile Americans, a State Department audit has found. One celebrity's records were breached 356 times by more than six dozen people.

The audit, by State's inspector general, was prompted by the discovery in March that three contract workers had peeked at the private passport files of Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain and that a department trainee had examined the file of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The report documented a widespread lack of controls on the personal data of the 127 million Americans who hold passports, finding numerous "weaknesses, including a general lack of policies, procedures, guidance and training." The department had claimed that its system worked when the candidates' passport breaches were discovered.

"This is unacceptable. The report makes it clear that the private information of over 100 million Americans is vulnerable to unauthorized access," said Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).

The audit suggests that some workers were motivated by fascination with the private lives of celebrities. One employee told investigators he liked looking up the records of professional basketball players.

The inspector general made 22 recommendations for improving security, but many of them were redacted for fear they might provide a road map to further abuse of the system.

Investigators found that 20,500 government workers and contractors had access to the electronic records system. Five contractors have been fired.

Department officials said that if they discover the breaches resulted in identity theft or other problems for passport holders, they will notify them. But they said there are so far no reports that the information was used improperly.