Help! National Archives Offers $50,000 For Lost Data

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) confirmed Wednesday that it was missing an external hard drive containing personal information for staffers of former President Bill Clinton and visitors to the Executive Office of the President.

The National Archives said in a nine-point, question-and-answer briefing posted to its web site and dated May 20 that it would offer a $50,000 reward for safe return of the hard drive.

"We do not know whether the drive was stolen, lost, or otherwise misplaced," the NARA briefing reads.

The data, according to NARA, includes social security numbers and briefings on Secret Service and White House operating procedure. A report in United Press International quoted congressional aides who said the hard drive contained more than 100,000 social security numbers, including for one of former Vice President Al Gore's daughters, along with manuals on Secret Service and White House operating procedures.

According to NARA, the drive "was being used for routine recopying to ensure preservation of the records," and contains no national security information. The drive itself is a two-terabyte Western Digital MY BOOK external hard drive measuring 6.5 x 2.1 x 5.4 inches and weighing 2.5 pounds, and contains the data copied from 113 4mm tape cartridges.

NARA said in its question-and-answer that the drive was last seen at its headquarters in College Park, Md., in October 2008 and is said to have been first reported missing on March 24, 2009. National Archives staff discovered the drive was lost thanks to an analysis project the National Archives began in March to figure out how to make data analysis more efficient.

According to NARA, it has alerted former Clinton staffers and visitors about the data loss and says it "has taken several steps to improve internal controls in the following areas: physical control of records, office access, and treatment of personally identifiable information."

That wasn't quite good enough for some members of Congress; U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told United Press International the House of Representatives will investigate.

"If they can't handle a hard drive that may be sensitive property, we need to ask the question, will they handle the most secret materials properly," Issa said to UPI.

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