The Mayor's Office learned Friday that Chattanooga received a letter dated February 7th informing city government that city data was affected by the Nationwide Recovery Services breach.
Nationwide Recovery Services provides debt collection services to city government. There is no indication that anything other than debt collection services data was affected.
"The failure of this information to reach necessary channels is an unacceptable error, said Eric Holl, senior advisor to Mayor Tim Kelly. "We will launch a thorough investigation into how this information failed for so long to reach necessary channels and we will share the results of that investigation with the public, while taking the necessary steps to ensure this kind of error never happens again."
The City Attorney’s office has written Nationwide Recovery Services, compelling them to inform everyone potentially affected and to offer them complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection.
The Mayor’s Office will be aggressive in ensuring that those affected are notified and offered protection in a timely manner.
That Nationwide Recovery Services letter is viewable at this link.
The letter from the City Attorney’s office is viewable at this link.