Ameriprise Settles With Massachusetts Over Data Loss

by Patrick Lunsford, CollectionIndustry.com

Financial advisory firm Ameriprise Financial, Inc. agreed to a settlement in Massachusetts over the theft of a laptop last year that potentially exposed some 230,000 consumers to identity theft. The company will hire a security consultant and pay the state $25,000.

Ameriprise ? formerly American Express Financial Corp ? will engage the security consultant for a period of six months. The company will then have until September of next year to implement the changes suggested during the consultation.

The laptop in question was stolen from an employee?s car on Christmas Eve last year. It contained detailed financial information on about 158,000 clients and 72,000 current and former financial advisors employed by Ameriprise.

The computer was later recovered and it was discovered that the sensitive information had not been accessed.