From the "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you" files -- "State computer stolen with data on 530 Seattle workers"
A laptop computer with information on about 530 workers at 50 Seattle-area employers has been stolen from a state Employment Security Department auditor.A list of companies whose employees' security may have been compromised by the Employment Security Department is here Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at December 06, 2005 04:24 PM | Email This
Boeing, Accurint, BofA and other businesses make this episode a miniscule drop in the bucket; they lost private information for hundreds of thousands of folks, doubtless millions in the aggregate.
Groups like the ACLU that were lobbying for greater protections on use of personal information in both the public and private sector. Right wingers, on the other hand, back intrusive, authoritarian measures such as the Real ID bill (can't wait to hear the libertarians howl when then consequences of that unfunded mandate hits the fan), while Chamber of Commerce types whine about any requirements by government to do anything, including correct erroneous information on their credit records or ensure secure and private treatment of enormous volumes of personal information.
Posted by: bartelby on December 6, 2005 07:40 PMTypical comment for lazy state employees.
If this happened in the private sector, they would fire the person immediately.
However, no company would go to the press and say "A laptop with super sensitive information on it was stolen, so, thief, make sure you look for the data and don't just reformat and fence the machine."
Follow up vigorously in private. Isn't that common sense?