On Data Breach, Still More Anxiety and Anger than Answers

The continued dearth of information from OPM regarding the scope and potential impact of a widescale computer hack of files containing personal information on federal employees has resulted in growing anxiety and anger among employees, retirees, their organizations and members of Congress. Despite four recent hearings on Capitol Hill and numerous letters requesting more information, there is even only partial clarity on only the smaller of the two breaches, one involving personnel records of some 4.2 million people who currently or formerly worked for the executive branch, or who worked for other branches and whose personnel records were sent to OPM on their separation from service. Most active employees have received notification emails, and letters are being sent to those who are retired or otherwise separated, describing the types of personal information potentially lost and offering $1 million in identity theft insurance, identity restoration service, and 18 months of credit monitoring at no cost. Even that aspect of the response has been criticized as inadequate, with calls to raise the amount of insurance; extend the credit monitoring to a lifelong benefit and include family members; and have the IRS flag all affected persons for potential fraudulent tax returns being filed in their names. More than two dozen employee organizations took the unusual step of complaining directly to President Obama, saying in a joint letter that OPM has put out “woefully insufficient information” to affected persons and asking him to “mandate immediate measures that inform federal employees, former employees and others whether their personal information has been disclosed through the breach of federal personnel and security clearance systems, and provide them with long-term credit protection measures.”The AFGE union has taken the even more unusual step of filing a class action suit against OPM, several top officials and one of its contractors. Employees individually and collectively also have complained about difficulty in getting registered with a separate contractor providing those services; OPM has responded that it is aware of the problems and is pressuring the company to be more responsive.