Baytown releases banking info for 10,000 by mistake

Baytown officials have notified 10,019 people cited by red light cameras that some of their personal banking information mistakenly was released to a resident who had filed a public information request about the controversial traffic program, Mayor Stephen DonCarlos said Monday.

The mayor stressed the resident who received the information has deleted a spreadsheet — containing not only citations but individual bank records — and did not distribute it further. The mayor also confirmed that the city clerk responsible for the release of the information resigned after the disclosure came to light earlier this month.

“It was error on our part and we've done everything we can to correct it, and notify anyone whose information was released,“ said DonCarlos, who added that financial information was not part of the request. “To the best of our information, the information went no further.“

One resident whose private banking information was released, a 67-year-old retiree, was furious after reading a letter the city sent last week about the inadvertent disclosure.

“I go to considerable lengths to make sure my bank account numbers do not get handed out willy-nilly,“ said the retiree, who asked that her name not be used out of fear she could be the victim of identity theft. “I was really irritated. All of my precautions are useless when they do something like this.”

The city released the information to electronics salesman Byron Schirmbeck, 38, who filed a public information request in May on the city's red light camera program as part of an effort to fight a citation he received in April. He maintained the traffic signal at one of Baytown's principal intersections, Baker and Garth, was set so that the light turned red after 3.1 seconds, which he insisted is a shorter interval than allowed by governing regulations.

“I was doing all this to get rid of my ticket, see if the red light camera system was working and to get money back for other people,“ Schirmbeck said. “I requested a hearing, but before they held it, they dismissed (the citation).“

‘I was scared to death'

City officials say the records released did not include Social Security or driver's license numbers of those cited, but did include the names, bank account numbers, bank routing numbers and check numbers of those who paid the citations with a check. Credit card or debit transactions were not included.

The 10,019 citations were generated by all eight of the city's red-light cameras.

“When I got this stuff in my e-mail, I was, of course, surprised I had that kind of information. I was scared to death,” said Schirmbeck, who said he showed a copy of the information to a lawyer, who confirmed it could be used to steal individuals' identities.

He said he has deleted all electronic and print copies of the information.

“What I was more surprised (about) is the information came from (private contractor), which operates the camera. So, here's a third-party company retaining people's checking information for a long time, over a year. Why, I don't know.”

Ford Hamiltion, the assistant Baytown city attorney who dismissed Schirmbeck's citation, acknowledged the yellow light interval has been increased to 4.5 seconds since the dismissal. However, he said the yellow light interval was just one of many factors involved in the dismissal of Schirmbeck's citation.

“There were some adjustment made. I don't know if they were made in regards to Mr. Schirmbeck's complaint,” Hamilton said. “I know at one point in time it was changed to 4.5 seconds. Truthfully, my traffic people didn't give me any reason. I asked them, if you can look at the timing, see where it's set, and they increased the interval.”

Hamilton said he also dismissed four or five pending cases involving the same light, but said a wholesale dismissal of citations due to the short interval was not warranted.

“This is a clear-cut example why cities should have a plan for dealing for information they collect. They are responding to a normal request — what they didn't pay attention to was the nature of information they supplied,“ said Jay Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego. “It's extremely dangerous to the public because of the volume of information we have to share with cities and government agencies we deal with. They have a duty to protect the sensitive personal information a citizen shares with them.“

Schirmbeck said he is working on a petition drive, part of a referendum effort to allow Baytown residents to vote on scrapping the red light camera program.

“There are volumes and volumes of things wrong with this,” he said.

A city spokeswoman said Baytown officials want to install 14 more cameras.

james.pinkerton@chron.com