GE Money loses personal information for 650,000 customers

By Margarita Snegireva. Personal information on about 650,000 customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised.

Photo: GE Money loses personal information for 650,000 customers

J. C. Penney Company, Inc (most commonly known today by the name JCPenney or simply Penney's) is a mid-range chain of American department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,067 stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico and the largest general merchandise catalog business in the United States.

In addition to sale of conventional merchandise, JCPenney stores are often home to several leased departments such as Optical, Portrait Studios, Jewelry & Watch repair, etc.

GE Money says a computer tape went missing and the information includes Social Security numbers for about 150,000 people.

It says the information was on a backup computer tape that was discovered missing last October. The tape was being stored at a warehouse run by Iron Mountain Inc., a data storage company.

GE Consumer Finance is the division of General Electric responsible for managing retail finance operations. GE Capital Asia is also managed under GE Consumer Finance. Incorporated as a unit of GE Capital, GE Consumer Finance is now one of six major operating divisions of GE reporting directly to senior management. In many nations, particularly outside of the United States, GE Consumer Finance operates under the GE Money brand, which it has undertaken a rigorous advertising campaign to rebrand as, though the incorporated name is still GE Consumer Finance. Today, GE Consumer Finance has a presence in 50 countries, providing products such as credit cards, personal loans, mortgages and motor solutions to over 118 million customers worldwide.