Dallas’ missing files saga has gone on too long

The first time is a mistake. The second time is a pattern. And both deserve better answers than Dallas residents.

Following a second revelation that Dallas lost more sensitive files, Mayor Eric Johnson and Dallas City Council members Cara Mendelsohn and Adam McGough want an independent investigation to determine the extent of the loss and to ensure there was no criminal intent as an IT employee who has since been laid off, deleted police and city files.

An independent investigation is required. The city government has been aware of the data problem since April, with the Dallas County Attorney’s Office, City Council, and Mayor only being notified of the first loss a few weeks ago.

This scenario has become so absurd. Initially, the city lost around 22 terabytes of data in a data transfer. Some of the files have been restored, but the city is still looking for about 8 terabytes of missing data. But it got worse a week ago. The city found that another 15 terabytes were missing, didn’t know when those files were deleted, and didn’t discover the loss until a more thorough audit triggered by the April data disaster.

The city council has announced that it will complete the examination by the end of this month. But it is also clear that the city does not have a clear inventory of the type of crime or the number of cases involved. And here is the placeholder. It is possible that the audit will reveal further missing evidence.

The best face anyone can put on is to hope that backup records or other files contain the missing information and that the missing information doesn’t harm criminal cases. But the city’s data and information technology protocols have serious gaps. The employee involved in the April data loss was fired because of an error pattern, and the city is now requiring a second person to be present while the data is being transferred.

The city has other steps to take. In addition to its efforts to restore the missing data, the city must also seriously consider how data is being handled, what fail-safe measures are in place – or not – and how oversight and management decisions could be improved. Management isn’t just about ticking boxes to make sure routine tasks get done. It also needs to understand the importance of data to city offices and other organizations that depend on it. In addition to an outside independent investigation, the city must also ensure that it has skilled technology staff and the right equipment to store and back up files and other records. And on a human level, any internal data loss or external data breach must be treated with the utmost seriousness and with the awareness that the effects of mishaps can be profound

Not all problems can be avoided, but the city cannot be part of the problem.

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