Hong Kong - HSBC has lost a digital tape containing 25,000 recorded phone conversations with bank customers in Hong Kong, a news report said Friday. The tape, containing calls made in April mostly about credit cards and internet banking, was one of 55 tapes sent by courier from HSBC's service centre in southern China to Hong Kong in June.
The tape was found to be missing two days later and an investigation has been launched into whether sensitive customer data has been compromised, the South China Morning Post reported.
The bank insisted the tape was encoded and access to its contents would require specialized hardware and software, making the list of customers' personal details being used for fraud low.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Office of Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data are both investigating the loss of data, according to the newspaper.
The incident is the second security embarrassment for HSBC in recent months after it lost the details of 159,000 accounts during renovations at a branch in Hong Kong's Kwun Tong district in April.
