Government tallies lost data incidents

? Federal workers at 19 agencies have lost personal information affecting thousands of employees and the public, raising fresh concerns about the government’s ability to protect sensitive information.

Most of the data was lost or stolen. In a few cases, it was accessed by computer hackers, according to a report released Friday by the House Government Reform Committee. Government contractors were responsible for many of the security breaches.

In all, the committee reported 788 incidents involving the loss or compromise of sensitive personal information since Jan. 1, 2003. That was in addition to the “hundreds of security and privacy incidents” at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the report said.

The committee requested the report after a laptop with information for more than 26.5 million military personnel was stolen from a Veterans Affairs Department employee in May. Law enforcement officials recovered the laptop, and the FBI said Social Security numbers and other data had not been copied.