A former Amtrak employee has been giving passenger information to the Drug Enforcement Administration in exchange for money for nearly two decades, according to reports from the Whittier Daily News. A total of over $854,460 changed hands over the last 20 years, despite the fact that information relevant to the DEA's work could have been obtained from Amtrak for free.
The employee, described as a "secretary to a train and engine crew" in a summary obtained by the AP, was selling the customer data with Amtrak's approval. Amtrak and other transportation companies collect information from their customers including credit card numbers, travel itineraries, emergency contact info, passport numbers, and dates of birth. When booking tickets online in recent years, Amtrak has also collected phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
The Whittier Daily News points out that Amtrak's corporate privacy policy allows the company to share this information with "certain trustworthy business partners," however, the secretary's actions didn't happen under this sanction.
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