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TSA: Traveler Applicant Data Stolen From SFO

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Aug 5, 2008 10:40 am US/Eastern

TSA: Traveler Applicant Data Stolen From SFO

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) ― A laptop containing the sensitive personal information of 33,000 passengers seeking to enroll in an airport security prescreening program has been reported stolen from San Francisco International Airport.

TSA spokesperson Ann Davis told CBS station KPIX-TV in San Francisco an unencrypted computer storing the personal information on the cards went missing from SFO on July 26, but the agency was not notified until Sunday.

The TSA has suspended new enrollments in the program, known as Clear, which allows passengers to pay to use special "fast lanes" to avoid long lines at airport security checkpoints. Participants must still undergo normal security screenings once they reach the checkpoint.

"It's not so much a security issue as a violation of personal information," said TSA spokesman Nico Melendez.

"Is there a threat to the security of the aircraft? No," he said.

The missing laptop does not affect the more than 200,000 air travelers already enrolled in the program, according to the agency.

The laptop belonged to Verified Identity Pass Inc., which operates the program at 17 airports nationwide.

Verified Identity Pass must notify all affected applicants and show it has installed encryption on all its computers before it can restart enrollments, the agency said.

In a statement, the company said the information on the laptop, which was stolen from a locked room, "is secured by two levels of password protection."

The information on the computer includes applicants' names, address and birth dates, and in some cases driver's license, passport or green card numbers, the company said. The laptop did not contain Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or fingerprint or iris images used to verify identities at the checkpoints, according to the statement.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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