HSBC has lost a digital tape containing
25,000 recorded phone conversations with bank customers in Hong Kong, a news
report said Friday.
The tape, containing calls made in April mostly about credit cards and
internet banking, was one of 55 tapes sent by courier from HSBC's service
centre in southern China to Hong Kong in June.
The tape was found to be missing two days later and an investigation has been
launched into whether sensitive customer data has been compromised, the South
China Morning Post reported.
The bank insisted the tape was encoded and access to its contents would require
specialized hardware and software, making the list of customers' personal
details being used for fraud low.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Office of Privacy Commissioner for
Personal Data are both investigating the loss of data, according to the
newspaper.
The incident is the second security embarrassment for HSBC in
recent months after it lost the details of 159,000 accounts during renovations
at a branch in Hong Kong's Kwun Tong district in April, dpa reported.
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