Accidentally erased a year's worth of text messages from the ex-chair's phone by the Information Technology department of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published a new report detailing the erasure of text messages from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler's government-issued phone. The report, released on September 6, 2023, sheds light on a series of events that started on July 6, 2023, when Gensler's phone lost its connection with the SEC's mobile device management system.

The OIG's partial review found that the missing text messages span from October 2022 to September 2023 and include conversations about an enforcement action against a crypto platform, a possible settlement with a global financial services firm, and the appointment of a new commissioner. Roughly 38% of the missing text messages were "mission related" and concerned SEC senior staff and/or Commissioners.

The factory reset of Gensler's phone, performed by the Office of Information Technology, resulted in the permanent deletion of the device's data. The SEC concurred with all five of the OIG's recommendations aimed at better mobile device management practices. However, the OIG cannot review the missing text messages to definitively determine their status as records, but surmises many, if not most, would be records.

The trouble stemmed from a 'bug' in prior versions of the SEC's mobile device vendor's operating system, which could break the connection between a mobile device and a mobile device management system. The policy was based on the assumption that such devices were not in use, lost, or stolen.

In response to the issue, the SEC disabled text messaging across the agency, with some exceptions. The SEC pledged to complete the tasks within the next six months to rectify the situation. The SEC also alerted the National Archives and Records Administration of the change.

It's important to note that the erasure of these text messages could impact the regulator's responses to some Freedom of Information Act requests. The SEC is currently working to address this issue.

The incident cost the SEC more than $50,000. Gary Gensler served as the SEC chair during the Biden administration. The names of persons involved with the missing text messages of Gary Gensler after July 6, 2023, include Gary Gensler himself and more than 20 other senior officials of the SEC, though their specific names beyond Gensler are not publicly detailed in the available information. Some of the missing text messages were from non-SEC-issued numbers.

The OIG reported inadequacies in the report's reliability and usefulness. On August 10, 2023, the SEC's Office of Information Technology launched a policy to remotely wipe any inactive devices. The SEC continues to work towards improving its mobile device management practices to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Accidentally erased a year's worth of text messages from the ex-chair's phone by the Information Technology department of the Securities and Exchange Commission.