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Thursday, the inspector general of the State Department
released a report in which it was stated that some of the employees have
accessed more frequently than previously thought some passports of wealthy
people and celebrities.
Officials said that those employees have been fired and
others were under investigation.
According to ABC News, the report showed that about 127
famous people had their records accessed at least once. Nine of these passports
were accessed more than 100 times. The names of the famous people were not made
public.
Officials said that they weren’t sure if those accesses were
authorized.
“Although an 85 percent hit rate appears to be excessive,
the Department currently lacks criteria to determine whether this is actually
an inordinately high rate,” stated the report, according to ABC News.
This investigation began after an internal audit showed that
the passports files of Hillary Rodham Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama
were viewed by employees who had not been authorized to do so. In March, Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice apologized to the three senators for the situation.
The Inspector General’s report stated that the agency had “control
weaknesses” and it had to take immediate steps to correct their policies and
procedures and also to create some disciplinary measures for employees who
breached personal files. The report suggested 22 steps to secure passport files,
recommending random audits of files and diminishing the number of those who
were authorized to view them.
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