Local T.V News Investigators Bust School for Breaking the Law

It’s a very sad story, but it may not be over just yet. San Antonio’s KSAT 12 Defenders went to an auction and bought 100 computers that had belonged to several campuses within SAISD. One of the computers contained personal information, such as a teacher’s address and phone number. These computers never had a process for disposal in place and indirectly exposed the information to potential thieves. The question is - will Texas government charge SAISD with breaking the law by not having a compliance policy in place, at each offending campus. Though they could be charged by the State for not complying with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), they probably won’t be charged for a federal crime. However, Texas is a test state for charging the most serious offenders. So, by next year, if your organization is involved in a security breach, your company may just find themselves in Federal court.

Though the detail of the information that was found was not disclosed, it may open SAISD for civil liabilities by the individuals whose information was at risk. And if this information fell into the hands of identity thieves, which results in a victim of ID theft, the lives of those individuals may be devastated.

The Spokesperson for SAISD, Carmen Vasquez-Gonzalez, said, "it should have never happened". But it did. And it won't be until tonight when SAISD discusses this matter at their board meeting. The agenda is to discuss using a vender to destroy all computers before disposal, in the future.

The San Antonio Police Department report that identity theft is up 10%, from last year.