DOJ Accidentally Uploads Confidential Info of Unrelated Parties Due to Tech Glitch

DOJ accidentally included confidential business and personal information for unrelated cases in an October filing due to a glitch in CBP's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), the agency said May 10 in a letter to the Court of International Trade (Suprajit Controls v. U.S., CIT # 23-00181).

As a result, the protests and entries in the case at issue, Suprajit Controls v. U.S., have been sealed from view, the court said.

Within 90 days of receiving a summons, CBP is required to file confidential documents related to the protests and entries listed on that summons, DOJ trial attorney Brandon Kennedy said in the letter. When the department went to do so in Suprajit, an error by CBP’s ACE meant they also accidentally caught and filed other, unrelated information from other parties, including some that was confidential, he said.

Kennedy said CBP has made correcting the ACE glitch a top priority and already has seen “significant progress.”