US disaster relief agency exposed survivors\' data

US disaster relief agency exposed survivors' data

IANS  |  Washington 

The US Agency (Fema) exposed 2.3 million disaster survivors to possible identity theft, according to a new report.

Fema admitted the leak but said it had found no evidence that the improperly-shared data was compromised.

Authorities said Fema shared participants' home addresses and account information with a third

The survivors provided information to Fema in the course of applying for shelters.

More than 20 data fields were improperly shared with the contractor, the said in the report.

The name of the was not made public.

Fema said that the sensitive information had been removed from the system following a review, the said.

"Since discovery of this issue, FEMA has taken aggressive measures to correct this error," Litzow said on Friday night.

"Fema is no longer sharing unnecessary data with the and has conducted a detailed review of the contractor's information system."

Fema has previously been censured for mishandling information. A 2015 review by the same watchdog found that survivor's records were stored at a disaster-response centre in in open, unsecured cardboard boxes.

Hurricane Harvey hit in August 2017, killing 68 people and causing about $125 billion in damage. Hurricane Irma struck later the same month, killing 97 and causing $50 billion in damage.

Hurricane Maria killed more than 3,000 people in and ravage the island.

The breach also included victims of the wildfires that swept through in 2017, with 9,000 separate fires burning 1.2 million acres of land and killing at least 46 people.

--IANS

ksk/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, March 23 2019. 16:26 IST