ALBANY (AP) - New York Inspector General Joseph Fisch says the state's child-abuse hotline lacks sufficient safeguards to protect the identities of callers, also noting that it took five months to have a record erased after an investigation found no abuse.

In a 33-page report, the inspector general says a Suffolk County man, trying to find out who reported him, obtained a confidential list of hotline callers from Verizon by claiming to be a state employee.

Fisch also cites improper retention of "expunged" records in 67 cases, which the Office of Children and Family Services deleted after receiving his preliminary findings.

Ed Borges, spokesman for OCFS, which oversees the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, said the agency has worked with the inspector general to correct some of the weaknesses identified, including renegotiating the contract with the phone-service provider to make sure confidential information isn't given out again.