Maybe they’re under the sofa in the Commerce Secretary’s office? That’s where I usually find stuff I’ve lost (well, not the Commerce Secretary’s sofa. Ours.)
According to a self-audit request by the House Government Reform Committee, the Commerce Department has lost over 1,100 laptop computers since 2001. Whu-huh?! How? Are employees required to reimburse the taxpayers for their carelessness? They should at least be required to explain themselves. At worst they should be fired.
More than 1,100 laptop computers have vanished from the Department of Commerce since 2001, including nearly 250 from the Census Bureau containing such personal information as names, incomes, and Social Security numbers, federal officials said yesterday.
This disclosure by the department was made in response to a request by the House Committee on Government Reform, which this summer asked 17 federal departments to detail any loss of computers holding sensitive personal information.
Of the 10 departments that responded, the losses at the Commerce Department are ``by far the most egregious,” said David Marin, staff director for the committee. He added that the silence of the remaining seven departments could reflect their reluctance to reveal problems of similar magnitude.
Glad to see that federal workers are being so careful with public property and our sensitive information.
I wonder how many laptop computers have been lost by the average company about the size of the Commerce Department since 2001. My guess is that it’s less than 1,100. But then people in the private sector are held accountable for such things.
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