The issue was discovered this week when a lawyer in the Baltimore City Law Department found that an unknown account had access to their files, including documents covered by attorney-client and work-product protections, according to a city statement.
The Baltimore City Office of Information & Technology conducted a permissions audit and determined that an account associated with the Office of the Inspector General had obtained unapproved and unrestricted access to the lawyer’s confidential files. The OIG could not be reached for comment Saturday.
City officials said the access was not tied to any current investigation by the Inspector General’s office and that removing the account would not interfere with the office’s lawful work.
“IT analysis is being conducted. As noted in the original statement, the access itself compromises confidentiality and attorney work product,” Tracy King, spokesperson for Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, told The Baltimore Sun. “Given the nature of this situation, we will not have further comment at this time but will provide relevant updates if and when they arise.”
The Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct require attorneys to protect confidential communications with clients. To comply with those standards, the technology office was directed to remove any unauthorized accounts and restore security controls on the law department’s files, the city said.
Officials did not say how long the account had access to the files or whether any documents were viewed or copied.
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