http://origin.contracostatimes.com/technology/ci_8000668
By David Koenig
AP Business Writer
01/17/2008
PLANO, Texas - Personal information on about 650,000 customers of J.C.
Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised after a
computer tape went missing. GE Money, which handles credit card
operations for Penney and many other retailers, said Thursday night that
the missing information includes Social Security numbers for about
150,000 people.
The information was on a backup computer tape that was discovered
missing last October. It was being stored at a warehouse run by Iron
Mountain Inc., a data storage company, and was never checked out but
can't be found either, said Richard C. Jones, a spokesman for GE Money,
part of General Electric Capital Corp.
Jones said there was "no indication of theft or anything of that sort,"
and no evidence of fraudulent activity on the accounts involved.
Iron Mountain spokesman Dan O'Neill said it would take specialized
skills for someone to glean the personal data from the tape. He said the
company regretted losing the tape, "but because of the volume of
information we handle and the fact people are involved, we have
occasionally made mistakes."
Penney said it had been told of the situation and referred further
inquiries to GE Money.
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Received on Fri Jan 18 01:03:30 2008