text: Personal info of 60 Ohioans in records given out - News - The Repository - Canton, OH
  Jan 8, 2016 at 6:22 AM Jan 8, 2016 at 10:53 AM
  A state agency mistakenly turned over the personal information and bank-account numbers of about60 Ohioans to a pair of vendors, including one that sent the records to be copied by a thirdparty.
  Officials of the MARCS emergency-communications system within the Department of AdministrativeServices didn't notify people whose Social Security, federal tax ID, bank-account numbers and otherdata were turned over improperly to the vendors until Monday " afterThe Dispatch inquired about the matter.
  'While we have no reason to believe that this incident will lead to identity theft,' the stateis offering identity-protection monitoring to those affected 'out of an abundance of caution,' saidDAS spokesman Tom Hoyt.
  In breaches of electronic records containing personal information involving reasonable chancesthat the data will be misused, state law requires that those affected be notified as soon aspossible and within 45 days.
  The incident stems from last year, when records about the tower sites MARCS leases for itsfirst-responder communication system were turned over to a pair of vendors, Motorola and AgileNetworks.
  DAS officials declined to answer when the vendors received the records and why those affectedwere not notified earlier.
  State officials did not redact, or black out, the personal information of landowners from whomMARCS rents sites for its communication towers, Hoyt said.
  Motorola then sent the documents to be copied by a third-party, where they apparently remained acouple of weeks.
  While the company previously assured the state the records had not left its possession, DAS didnot learn otherwise until late last month, Hoyt said.
  'The files were returned to us and the vendors did not maintain them,' said Hoyt, noting bothcompanies have confidentiality agreements in their contracts that forbid them from sharing anyinformation with other parties.
  No employee was disciplined as a result of the error, Hoyt said. 'We are taking steps to ensureit doesn't happen again,' he added.
  MARCS has deployed about 50,000 radios to first responders who subscribe to the service forvoice and data communication. It permits emergency workers to communicate with any police or fireagency statewide that also uses the service.