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Records used for background checks contain a variety of information that could lead the identity theft if they fell into the wrong hands. Because of this, companies that deal with such information have to be very careful with their databases. When something goes wrong many can have serious reasons to be concerned.

The Arkansas Department of Information Systems (DIS) is currently worried about one set of its records. A private company, Information Vaulting Services (IVS) that stores their information off-site recently informed them that one of the computer tapes full of data is missing from their inventory.

Somewhere around 807,000 people who had background checks ran on them in the state are on the tape that has been misplaced. The records span around 12 years on this particular tape.

The state’s police have been looking into the matter. So far, no evidence of an intentional breach of security has been found, but the information obtained during these background checks could still fall into the wrong hands.

In hopes of avoiding any potential problems this could cause, the DIS decided to go public with this information.

“We have taken every step possible to recreate where the loss of these backup tapes occurred, and these tapes were redundant, second copies of information,” said the Chief Operating Officer of IVS, Danny Palo. “This is the first time in six years of service to DIS that this has happened. IVS has immediately taken steps to tighten procedures that will virtually eliminate the possibility of this ever happening again.”

Those who have had to have a criminal background check ran on them in Arkansas since the middle of the 90’s should find if their information was on the missing tape. They can do this by calling 1-888-682-0411 or by checking out the website that has been step up solely for this purpose. Employees of the center will be available to answer calls between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. Those who cal will be asked for their first and last name and their date of birth before they can be told if they were on the tape. No other information is needed.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 12:17 am and is filed under Background Check. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.