Comptroller: Connecticut data on stolen Ohio computer tape

Connecticut will offer free credit protection to affected residents.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The names and Social Security numbers of 57 Connecticut residents were improperly listed on a computer backup tape stolen in Ohio, the state said Friday.

Connecticut will offer free credit protection to affected residents. Accenture, a consultant that worked on both states’ computer systems, will pay for the service.

The news of the Ohio theft comes just several days after 100,000 Connecticut residents learned their names and Social Security numbers were on a laptop stolen from the car of a Connecticut tax department employee. Connecticut also is offering free identity theft coverage to those individuals.

State Comptroller Nancy Wyman says the names were improperly moved from a Connecticut computer and transferred to an Ohio computer, then ended up on a backup tape of the data file.

Ohio officials believe that an Accenture consultant working on computer systems in both states accidentally transferred the information from the Connecticut residents into the Ohio system, said Ron Sylvester, an Ohio Department of Administrative Services spokesman.

The tape, which also contained data on more than 1 million Ohio residents, was stolen from an Ohio state worker’s car in June.

Ohio officials say the data system is so specialized that it’s highly unlikely anyone can access the personal information and misuse it.