Bank Of America Loses 1.2 Million Customer Records

Christopher Reimer writes "C|Net is reporting that Bank of America lost 1.2 million customer records when some backup tapes went missing while being shipped to a backup center. The lost records mainly effect U.S. government employees involved in the SmartPay program. From the article: 'The acknowledgment comes as several other cases of businesses losing consumer information have come to light.'"

Comments

Well...

[JavaMoose]

This is really getting out of hand. For every case like this we hear about, I wonder if there are a few that get swept under the rug?

Now, I generally frown on lawsuits, but this is one type of case where it works. The people on these lists need to start filing class action lawsuits against these companies. Large corporations only feel something when they lose money, maybe it would send the message that you will be held accountable if you do not take security seriously.

As we all know, nothing is as valuable as our information.

Re:Well...

[reallocate]

This is really getting out of hand. For every case like this we hear about, I wonder if there are a few that get swept under the rug?

You're hearing about this because of the flap about CheckPoint, and you heard about CheckPoint because of the current flap about identity theft.

If not for those circumstances, these stories would very likely have been reported in the business press, but otherwise below the general public's radar.

So, you have no reason to assume that the first appearance of an event on TV or in Slashdot means it never happened before.

BofA ought, of course, be held responsible for their behavior. I don't know if these cardholders can sue, since the card's were issued to them in conjunction with their federal employment. And, unless they are able to document loss as a result of the loss, I'm not sure what grounds they'd have for a suit.

That said, BofA just dug itself a big hole for the next contract recompete. Their accountablity may come in the form of losing that recompete. (Don't imagine, though, that a contract of that size will be given to some local mom-and-pop bank.)

This has been coming for a _long_ time...

[ites]

When businesses started collecting huge amounts of detailed via through the web in the mid 1990's, it was clear where we were heading:

1. unlimited storage capacity meant complex and detailed records could be kept on every person.

2. guaranteed incompetence meant these records would be abused, lost, exposed and manipulated.

I don't see either of these trends changing.

Applies to both commercial and governmental databases. Chaos, mess, confusion, abuse, on a huge and ever-increasing scale.

Welcome to the 21st century. You can opt out by unchecking the "Connect to the Internet" box about 10 years ago...