--Decision marks shift from plans to require use of government equipment --Modified policy will take effect Sept. 5 --FBI, SEC told Labor Department of concerns about safety of data By Geoffrey Rogow The Department of Labor will allow news organizations to use their own equipment to distribute market-moving economic data, a shift from a government plan announced this spring. In a posting on its website Tuesday, the Labor Department said news organizations can use equipment provided by the Department of Labor or the companies' own hardware. The posting added that digital devices and personal items can't be brought into the gathering of journalists at the Labor Department's "lockup," as the highly choreographed data releases are known. All equipment used by news organizations must be shipped directly from the manufacturer or a reseller to the Labor Department, the posting said. The new protocols are a step back from stricter proposals announced in April. At that time, the department said that, come July, it would no longer allow news agencies to use customized computer networks to send market-moving employment data to a range of clients, including traders who quickly act on the news. Currently, a number of news agencies--including News Corp. (NWSA) unit Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire--maintain specialized hardware and software on government premises that allow them to transmit the data to subscribers as soon as figures are released. Some media companies had objected to the changes, saying they risked increasing errors in reporting, among other concerns. A hearing in early June by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform examined the proposals. Government officials and media executives, including representatives from Bloomberg News and Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI, TRI.T), appeared at the hearing, and the changes were postponed shortly thereafter. Representatives for Dow Jones, Bloomberg News and Thomson Reuters weren't immediately available for comment. At the June hearing, the Labor Department was questioned about its data-release plan, with Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) asking to review a report by Sandia National Laboratories that had led to the changes. That report was commissioned by the Labor Department to review "what the risks and vulnerabilities were" in the current system, according to Carl Fillichio, who oversees the Labor Department's data releases. The report from Sandia, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), was released publicly Tuesday. It said the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Inspector General had approached the Department of Labor with concerns about how it releases sensitive economic data. "Over the course of the last four years, the DOL was approached by various regulatory authorities (e.g. OIG, SEC, and FBI) concerned that key economic data were potentially subject to unauthorized, premature release," wrote Sandia National Laboratories in the report, which was dated August 2011. Mr. Fillichio said at the June hearing that there had been about seven instances where issues arose tied to security or the release of data ahead of the permissible time. Spokesmen for the Labor Department, Inspector General, SEC and FBI all declined to comment on Sandia's report. Write to Geoffrey Rogow at geoffrey.rogow@dowjones.com
