TEXAS COMPUTER TAPES CONTAINING STATE DATA MISSING FOR 2 WEEKSState data with Social Security numbers misplaced for 2 weeks | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle:

May 8, 2007, 2:47AM
State data with Social Security numbers misplaced for 2 weeks

AUSTIN — Nine million state records containing Social Security numbers and other sensitive data used to verify Medicaid claims went missing for more than two weeks, and state officials didn't know for more than half that time.

None of the data stored on the 14 computer tapes was compromised before being found Monday, Health and Human Services Commission spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said.

A courier delivering the tapes to a vendor placed the tapes inside the wrong bin in a state office building, Goodman said. State officials are now promising to implement new tracking procedures.

"We want to be able to track those records at every point in the process," Goodman said.

The state employment data on the tapes is used to cross-check with Medicaid claims to ensure that clients aren't covered by private insurance. Goodman didn't know how many Social Security numbers the tapes contained but said it is difficult to access the records without specific knowledge.

The quarterly report was being transferred from Northrop Grumman, which maintains the mainframe computers containing the work force data, to the Texas Medicaid & Healthcare Partnership, a coalition of contractors that processes Medicaid claims.

The courier picked up the tapes April 18, but more than a week passed before THMP realized the tapes hadn't arrived. The state health commission was notified May 1 and alerted the Office of Inspector General two days later.

THMP located the tapes Friday but didn't notify the health commission until Monday, Goodman said.

The lead contractor for the commission is Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Systems. Spokesman Kevin Lightfoot said the contractor wasn't told the tapes were on their way so didn't initially know they were missing.

The company is now exploring transferring the data electronically to improve security, Lightfoot said.

One of ACS' subcontractors is Accenture LLP, which had its troubled contract with the state severed earlier this year after many technical and operational problems.

___

Information from: The Houston Chronicle, http://www.chron.com