BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhuanet) -- State Department employees may have been sneaking peeks at the passport records of celebrities much more often than previously disclosed, according to an internal investigative report that urges new action to secure the files. A report from the department's inspector general released Thursday said a survey of the records of 150 notable politicians, athletes and entertainers found that 127 of them, or 85 percent, had been accessed 4,148 times between September 2002 and March 2008.
Of the 150 files, nine had been viewed more than 101 times, according to the report. Thirty-three others had been viewed more than 26 times, and 85 files had been looked at at least once, it said.
The report did not say if the files had been viewed for legitimate reasons, but it noted that the number "appears to be excessive." It added that it could not yet determine if the 85 percent "hit rate" was "inordinately high."
However, officials said the number of times that some files were viewed was highly suspicious and probably a sign of inappropriate peeking at the records, which contain names, Social Security numbers and passport numbers.
They said that an investigation is under way to determine if any wrongdoing occurred and that any employees found to have violated privacy policies would be disciplined.
"We are reviewing the circumstances under which people looked at these records and we will take action," said Michael Kirby, a senior official with the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which handles passports. "If it's inappropriate access, we will take appropriate measures."