# GSA watchdog finds sensitive files accessible to unauthorised staff and contractors

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/gsa-left-sensitive-google-drive-files-open-to-staff-contractors/
- Published: 2026-10-29T15:56:44+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-29T16:33:11+00:00
- Original publisher: The Register
- Original article: https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/10/29/gsa-left-sensitive-google-drive-files-open-to-staff-contractors/5306430
- Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment

## Key points

- A GSA audit found 116 sensitive files shared across the agency.
- The files included personal data, security plans and vendor proposals.
- Auditors have flagged similar protection failures since 2014.

## Summary

A US government watchdog found that sensitive documents in the General Services Administration’s Google Drive were shared with staff and contractors who had no business need to access them. The findings matter because the exposed material included personal data, building security details and confidential vendor information, and similar weaknesses have been reported for more than a decade.

The inspector general’s limited search identified 116 files containing controlled unclassified information shared with all GSA users; about 2.5 million documents are stored in the Drive. The report cited gaps in the agency’s data-loss prevention tool, including incomplete search terms, disabled text recognition for scanned files and a 15-megabyte file-size limit, as well as no formal approval process for sharing sensitive material. The exposed files included social security numbers, addresses, building plans and vendor proposals, while the watchdog said it first reported related problems in 2014.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.