Reuters

Probe into US privacy breaches

Updated 14.44 Sat Mar 22 2008

Keywords: John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, State Department

An investigation is underway into how the passport files of US presidential hopefuls were improperly viewed.

The State Department revealed on Friday that the passport records of Republican John McCain, and Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, had been accessed by three contract employees and by a regular department staffer.

"When you have not just one but a series of attempts to tap into people's personal records, that's a problem not just for me but for our health in this country" - Barack Obama

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called all three senators to apologize.

The State Department said it is conducting an investigation and will look at how to tighten its systems to prevent such privacy violations.

The incident revived memories of the political firestorm that erupted in 1992 after State Department officials searched former President Bill Clinton's passport and citizenship files when he was a Democratic presidential candidate.

"It is deeply disturbing, what's happened," Mr Obama told a news conference.

"When you have not just one but a series of attempts to tap into people's personal records, that's a problem not just for me but for our health in this country and so I expect a full and thorough investigation."

Mrs Clinton, who is spending the Easter holiday at home off the campaign trail, said in a statement she would follow the probe closely.

Mr Obama leads the former First Lady in the state-by-state contest to amass delegates who will formally select the Democrat to face Mr McCain.

The Arizona senator, who pulled ahead of both Obama and Clinton in some national polls this week, was finishing up an overseas trip with a congressional delegation that visited Iraq, Israel, Jordan, France and Britain.