The Federal Trade Commission revealed on Monday that it has unveiled widespread data breaches at companies, schools and local governments whose employees are indulging in swapping music, software and movie files over the Internet.

"Unfortunately, companies and institutions of all sizes are vulnerable to serious P2P-related breaches, placing consumers' sensitive information at risk", FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz posted in a news release.

The consumer protection agency reported to have notified nearly 100 organizations where information on customers and employees -- including health and financial data and Social Security and driver's license numbers has been found on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

However, FTC did not unveil the name of the organizations involved, but said it has launched non-public investigations of other companies that have had data exposed on peer-to-peer networks.

David Vladeck, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in an interview that many companies probably aren't aware that they have made user data public. The review is part of a recent "sweep of the Internet" to understand how peer-to-peer networks affect users' privacy online, he added.