State Department workers viewed passport applications containing personal information about high-profile Americans, including the late Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith, at least 20 times since January 2007, The Associated Press has learned.

That total is far more than disclosed last week with the news that presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama had been victims of improper snooping.

An internal department review has found the additional instances of department employees or contractors looking at computerized passport files of politicians and celebrities, according to preliminary results.

It has not been determined if the new cases also involved improper peeking, officials familiar with the review said Wednesday. Smith’s case, however, seems legitimate, the officials said. The review is not complete and the exact number of cases was not yet clear.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the review is going on at the same time as the department’s internal watchdog investigates passport record security related to the breaches involving the White House candidates.

Smith died in the Bahamas in February 2007. The review of her passport file appears to have come after a legitimate request from the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas for information needed to complete her death certificate, the officials said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Associated Press has learned that a State Department review has found at least 20 instances of workers peeking at the passport files of high-profile Americans, including former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith, over the past year.

That is far more than disclosed last week when U.S. officials discovered that workers had improperly snooped into the passport files of the three presidential candidates. It’s not yet clear if the other files were looked at improperly. Although officials told AP that Smith’s file appears to have been accessed on a legitimate request for information needed for her death certificate after she died in the Bahamas last year.