Tuesday, June 19, 2007
It just keeps happening
It just keeps happening
Won’t they ever learn?
Last week, a backup computer storage device containing the names and Social Security numbers of all 64,000 state employees was stolen from a state worker’s car.
The worker, an intern for the Office of Budget and Management, mistakenly left the computer device in a car outside an apartment. The device, one of two backup storage devices, is given to employees to take home for safekeeping on a rotating basis.
Gov. Ted Strickland said Friday that worker privacy wasn’t threatened because it would take special equipment to access the data. Strickland said he has ordered an end to the practice of employees taking the devices home for safekeeping.
The state will provide its workers with free access to identity protection services for the next year – at a cost to the taxpayers of $660,000.
Sadly, incidents like this seem to be happening with alarming regularity. Last year, officials at Ohio University learned that security breaches there exposed to data theft 173,000 files containing Social Security numbers, names, medical records and home addresses of employees and alumni. In March, hackers stole the personal information of 14,000 current and former faculty and staff members at Ohio State University.
And last year, a laptop computer was stolen from the home of an employee of the Veterans Administration which contained personal information on 26.5 million active-duty military personnel and veterans. The VA employee wasn’t authorized to take the data home.
We find it outrageous that the government – at both the state and federal level – seems to have a cavalier attitude toward protecting the personal information of people in this country. Identity theft is a growing concern in the United States. It doesn’t help that careless behavior by government employees abets the problem.
We think it’s time all levels of government implement stricter procedures in handling the sensitive data in its possession to protect people – be they students, employees, veterans or the general public – from identity theft.
Won’t they ever learn?
Last week, a backup computer storage device containing the names and Social Security numbers of all 64,000 state employees was stolen from a state worker’s car.
The worker, an intern for the Office of Budget and Management, mistakenly left the computer device in a car outside an apartment. The device, one of two backup storage devices, is given to employees to take home for safekeeping on a rotating basis.
Gov. Ted Strickland said Friday that worker privacy wasn’t threatened because it would take special equipment to access the data. Strickland said he has ordered an end to the practice of employees taking the devices home for safekeeping.
The state will provide its workers with free access to identity protection services for the next year – at a cost to the taxpayers of $660,000.
Sadly, incidents like this seem to be happening with alarming regularity. Last year, officials at Ohio University learned that security breaches there exposed to data theft 173,000 files containing Social Security numbers, names, medical records and home addresses of employees and alumni. In March, hackers stole the personal information of 14,000 current and former faculty and staff members at Ohio State University.
And last year, a laptop computer was stolen from the home of an employee of the Veterans Administration which contained personal information on 26.5 million active-duty military personnel and veterans. The VA employee wasn’t authorized to take the data home.
We find it outrageous that the government – at both the state and federal level – seems to have a cavalier attitude toward protecting the personal information of people in this country. Identity theft is a growing concern in the United States. It doesn’t help that careless behavior by government employees abets the problem.
We think it’s time all levels of government implement stricter procedures in handling the sensitive data in its possession to protect people – be they students, employees, veterans or the general public – from identity theft.
# posted by raveneye @ 11:43 AM 
