SACRAMENTO – Letters were delivered to approximately 1,550 state employees and other individuals outside of state service applying for employment with the state informing them that documents that may contain their personal information are likely to have been mistakenly disposed of as trash instead of shredded as intended, California Department of Health Services (CDHS) Director Sandra Shewry announced today.

"We regret that personal information about these individuals was not handled with the care and security that is expected and required," Shewry said. "Department policy requires that confidential information be locked up when not in use. We are taking steps to ensure that our policies on the storage and shredding of confidential documents are followed so this type of incident does not occur again."

A CDHS employee discovered that the documents were inappropriately removed from the employee’s cubicle on June 5 and 9. A container in which the documents were kept for shredding was emptied during the same periods that the office trash was removed.

The documents contained individuals’ names, addresses, Social Security Numbers and home and work telephone numbers. They were mostly expired state employment certification lists, but also included requests for personnel action, copies of e-mail messages and handwritten notes.

"Governor Schwarzenegger is committed to a no excuses, zero-tolerance policy regarding the release of sensitive, personal and confidential information," Shewry said.

The exact number of individuals whose personal information was contained on the documents is likely to be fewer than those being notified. Because the content of the e-mail messages and notes, including any names and personal information, is unknown, every individual who could have potentially been affected by the incidents is being notified.

Although it is unlikely that the documents were stolen, CDHS has contacted the California Highway Patrol and filed a police report regarding the missing documents.

The letter to individuals advises them that they can protect themselves from the possibility of identity theft by placing a fraud alert on their credit files and provides phone numbers for three credit reporting agencies: Experian (888-397-3742); Equifax (800-525-6285); and Trans Union (800-680-7289).

The letter also informs individuals that they may obtain one free copy of their credit report annually from the credit reporting agencies under federal law by calling (877) 322-8228. In addition, individuals may contact CDHS’ Privacy Office hotline at (916) 445-4646 or log on to the California Office of Privacy Protection (COPP) Web site at www.privacy.ca.gov for more information about identity theft.

Last year, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation to combat identity theft, including banning "phishing," increasing the penalties of sending "spam," banning the use of equipment used to make fake documents, limiting inmates from having access to personal information of private individuals and other measures to increase privacy protection.

The Governor also increased the budget for COPP by $446,000 to help protect against identity theft, including conducting education and outreach efforts to consumers and organizations throughout California.

In addition, the Governor has held two summits on identity theft solutions where representatives of law enforcement, the financial services industry, consumer groups and state and local government participated in education and training forums to fight the growing crime of identity theft.

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