AUSTIN — Texas Comptroller Susan Combs revealed Monday that the personal information of 3.5 million people has been inadvertently disclosed by her agency, making Social Security numbers, dates of birth and other data accessible to the public.
The information was available on a publicly accessible computer server and included data transferred by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission and the Employees Retirement System of Texas.
Combs said that on Wednesday her office will begin sending letters to notify those affected by the data breach, which is thought to be the largest in Texas history.
Some comptroller employees have been fired in the incident, said agency spokesman R.J. DeSilva, though he wouldn’t give further details. The problem was discovered March 31. Some of the information had been publicly available since April 2010.
“We can’t emphasize enough how much we regret that his happened,” DeSilva said. “We’re truly sorry about this exposure.”
Combs has been outspoken in her opposition to releasing state employees’ birthdates in response to requests under the Texas Public Information Act. She has said she worries the information could be used for identity theft.
