Laptop Stolen from NTID with Personal Information of Thousands of Us

Anyone know what's the update with this issue ?
 
Laptop stolen from NTID (is YOUR info on it?)

This is great. Just great.

I just received a letter from Alan Hurwitz (President of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf) informing me that a laptop that was stolen from NTID on August 25, 2008 had my personal information on it, including name, date of birth and my social security number.

I LEFT NTID in 1998. WHAT the heck is my personal information doing on a LAPTOP 10 years after the fact?????? Especially at a technical institute that *KNOWS* how easy it is to have laptops lost/stolen (heck all you have to do is watch the news and the reports of stolen laptops full of personal information are a weekly thing.)

So now I have to put a fraud alert on my credit file, and monitor it at my expense, because of their stupidity. I'm just livid!! :mad2:
 
neecy said:
This is great. Just great.

I just received a letter from Alan Hurwitz (President of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf) informing me that a laptop that was stolen from NTID on August 25, 2008 had my personal information on it, including name, date of birth and my social security number.

I LEFT NTID in 1998. WHAT the heck is my personal information doing on a LAPTOP 10 years after the fact?????? Especially at a technical institute that *KNOWS* how easy it is to have laptops lost/stolen (heck all you have to do is watch the news and the reports of stolen laptops full of personal information are a weekly thing.)

So now I have to put a fraud alert on my credit file, and monitor it at my expense, because of their stupidity. I'm just livid!! :mad2:
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We been lamenting the same thing.....
 
I thought I heard that NTID is now offering some kind of plan, insurance, coverage.......will try to find it.
 
neecy said:
This is great. Just great.

I just received a letter from Alan Hurwitz (President of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf) informing me that a laptop that was stolen from NTID on August 25, 2008 had my personal information on it, including name, date of birth and my social security number.

I LEFT NTID in 1998. WHAT the heck is my personal information doing on a LAPTOP 10 years after the fact?????? Especially at a technical institute that *KNOWS* how easy it is to have laptops lost/stolen (heck all you have to do is watch the news and the reports of stolen laptops full of personal information are a weekly thing.)

So now I have to put a fraud alert on my credit file, and monitor it at my expense, because of their stupidity. I'm just livid!! :mad2:
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FYI, I know of students that left NTID / R.I.T back in the 1980's whose names were also on the list.
 
Tousi said:
I thought I heard that NTID is now offering some kind of plan, insurance, coverage.......will try to find it.
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Once you find it, could you perhaps please post the info in here ? I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance !
 
neecy said:
So now I have to put a fraud alert on my credit file, and monitor it at my expense, because of their stupidity. I'm just livid!! :mad2:
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are you sure? at your expense? Bristol-Myers Squibb mailed me that the backup drive containing all employees' personal info (SSN, address, etc.) was lost. They offered to pay for credit watch and such. They should pay for yours too.
 
HHIssues said:
Once you find it, could you perhaps please post the info in here ? I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance !
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HHIssues, I'm sorry I don't have specifics for you but here's what I know from elsewhere: Records date back from at least 1968. Someone mentioned signing up for LifeLock Reviews BUT someone else said NTID is offering something similar that they are paying for. So maybe go to NTID's site or e-mailing the appropriate dept. there?

Maybe Neecy has more information now that she's had a few days to digest this. Maybe Jiro?

Sorry, but that's all I know about this. Hopefully some of what I just related will lead you somewhere.
 
Tousi said:
HHIssues, I'm sorry I don't have specifics for you but here's what I know from elsewhere: Records date back from at least 1968. Someone mentioned signing up for LifeLock Reviews BUT someone else said NTID is offering something similar that they are paying for. So maybe go to NTID's site or e-mailing the appropriate dept. there?

Maybe Neecy has more information now that she's had a few days to digest this. Maybe Jiro?

Sorry, but that's all I know about this. Hopefully some of what I just related will lead you somewhere.
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it's usually in the notification letter. It notifies you that the data containing your information has been breached and then it recommends you to notify your bank and put the alert on your credits. It also offers to pay for credit alert services and it has a link or code to enter when you go to the website to sign up for it. If your letters do not contain these kind of information - call them up and ask for it.
 
Data loss firm contract axed

A company which lost the details of thousands of criminals held on a computer memory stick has had its £1.5m contract terminated after an inquiry.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said PA Consulting had lost the data after it was transferred securely to the firm.

PA Consulting apologised for the loss of data and said it had accepted its "responsibilities".

The work had now been taken in-house and PA Consulting's other Home Office contracts, worth £8m, are under review.

The Cabinet Office will also launch a review of all contracts signed by the government with private companies to ensure they were "appropriate", said Ms Smith.

Unlocked drawer

"Our contract had stipulated the sort of security provisions that needed to be in place and that had not happened," added the home secretary.

"We are cancelling this contract and we are urgently reviewing the way in which PA Consulting are meeting the requirements of other contracts we have with them.

"Our investigation has demonstrated that while the information was transmitted in an appropriately secure way to PA Consulting and fed to a secure site, it was subsequently downloaded on to an insecure data stick and that data stick was then lost."


RECENT LOSSES
Nov 2007: 25m people's child benefit details, held on two discs
Dec 2007: 7,685 Northern Ireland drivers' details
Dec 2007: 3m learner drivers' details lost in US
Jan 2008: 600,000 people's details lost on Navy officer's stolen laptop
June 2008: Six laptops holding 20,000 patients' details stolen from hospital
July 2008: MoD reveals 658 laptops stolen in four years

She said the memory stick had not been encrypted or "managed properly" and had not been found despite extensive searches.

Cancelling the contract will not cost the taxpayer and any expenses incurred will have to be met by PA Consulting, Ms Smith said.

The memory stick contained un-encrypted details about 10,000 prolific offenders as well as names, dates of births and some release date of all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales - and 33,000 records from the police national computer.

Identity cards

It also carried the initials of people on drug treatment programmes.

The stick was left in an unlocked drawer in an unsecured office at its offices in Victoria, central London.

The loss led to fears prisoners would attempt to claim compensation but Ms Smith reassured MPs that "appropriate measures are in place for individuals seeking information about the data held on them".

The loss of data on this project was caused by human failure, a single employee was in breach of PA's well-established information security processes
PA Consulting

Critics say the mistake raises further doubts about the government's controversial ID card project, in which PA Consulting is involved.

Ms Smith said: "The inquiry that we have carried out ... suggests that the most likely thing to have happened was that the data stick was pilfered or lost.

"I think (PA Consulting) recognise that what they have done is against the terms of their contract."

'Apologise unreservedly'

In its first public statement on the data loss incident, a spokesman for PA Consulting said: "The loss of data on this project was caused by human failure, a single employee was in breach of PA's well-established information security processes.

"We deeply regret this human failure and apologise unreservedly to the Home Office."

He said the firm had carried out an examination of all of its government and private sector projects which handle sensitive data and had found, apart from that one incident, "we are fully compliant with robust policies and procedures".

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said the data loss was just the "latest in a long list of fiascos, based on government's careless approach to data management" and it was not good enough to "pass the buck".

"These serial failures are the result of flawed ministerial strategy," he added, saying the ID card scheme should be scrapped.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Tom Brake also accused ministers of trying to escape criticism for data losses by "making scapegoats out of private companies".

"The government has proved it cannot be trusted with even basic information, let alone with something as intrusive and excessive as the ID cards scheme," he said.

At the weekend, it emerged that another private contractor, EDS, mislaid a computer disc carrying personal details of thousands of employees of the National Offender Management Service in July last year.
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yike - how harsh is that? That's exactly what we need in USA
 
Sheesh, I never give my SSN out to anyone, god knows who is going to lift it then use it to make credit purchases. Once your SSN is no longer usable they toss it out like rubbish.

Laptops are useful, but they should never have sensitive information stored on them. TrueCrypt or not, they are just too easy to be stolen.

The entire study should be done in a secure building on a secure server. And if your information is being used for such 'studies' you should be notified and given an opt out from the study in which your records SSN, name, and address are permanently removed from their records, especially if you are no longer affiliated in any shape or form with the institution.
 
Dixie said:
Sheesh, I never give my SSN out to anyone, god knows who is going to lift it then use it to make credit purchases. Once your SSN is no longer usable they toss it out like rubbish.
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Unfortunately, you are required to give your tax identification information (such as your social security number) to bank (it is a requirement under the law) in order to open the checking/saving/401K/credit/etc account. Same thing for insurance and buying car/house (even you pay it in full with cash). My friend couldn't buy house since his SSN had lien by IRS for few thousands dollars back tax owed.. Its almost impossible to even rent an apartment without SSN.

If you ask me, I think thats stupid, it should only used for tax/employment purpose only. We can give thanks to criminals/terrorists for this. :(
 
I didnt give my car dealer my SSN, only my DL number.

If they need an identifying number, then my DL number is sufficient if it is unrelated to work and tax purposes.

I also do not have a bank account by choice since I am horrible at balancing my checkbooks. My theory is that if I do not have the cash for it, then I probably don't need it that badly. So far it has worked. If I need to send off money to make a truck payment, I use a money order to do so.
 
Dixie said:
I didnt give my car dealer my SSN, only my DL number.

If they need an identifying number, then my DL number is sufficient if it is unrelated to work and tax purposes.
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If you got a loan from the dealer, they have access to credit reports, they can pull reports without SSN, as your DL contains your name, address, DOB.

Lastly, business must report cash sales of $10,000 or more to the IRS and on the form it asks for the customer's SSN. The business will be fined for non-compliance if they do not have your SSN on the form. This law was a response to illegal activities involving mostly drug sales and these people trying to get rid of all their money and has been in force for quite some time. Yes, it is not fair when a law abiding citizen has to go through all the hulabaloo because of drug dealers and terrorists, but that is the world we have to try to function in nowadays.

You can't even get a cell phone services without credit check.. Only exception to that is pre-paid phone but probably will be changing.

Sorry if I got off topic..
 
I got the letter at work. :( It was sent to the company apartment because it was the address RIT had at the time. Then I made an online request for a 90 day fraud alert at Equifax.
 
I got a letter from NTID as well. I already put a fraud alert on my credit and checked my credit. So far, no one puts anything on my ssn. Whew.
 
If it was an inside job, wouldn't you rest a little easier, thinking it was probably a student who took the machine and probably not sophisticated enough to raise havoc with your information. Not that you shouldn't do anything......just saying....
 
RichardDeaf said:
If you got a loan from the dealer, they have access to credit reports, they can pull reports without SSN, as your DL contains your name, address, DOB.

Lastly, business must report cash sales of $10,000 or more to the IRS and on the form it asks for the customer's SSN. The business will be fined for non-compliance if they do not have your SSN on the form. This law was a response to illegal activities involving mostly drug sales and these people trying to get rid of all their money and has been in force for quite some time. Yes, it is not fair when a law abiding citizen has to go through all the hulabaloo because of drug dealers and terrorists, but that is the world we have to try to function in nowadays.

You can't even get a cell phone services without credit check.. Only exception to that is pre-paid phone but probably will be changing.

Sorry if I got off topic..
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they never asked for my SSN - even if they did I would tell them there are ways of identifying who I am without giving something as personal as that to a stranger.

As far as cell phones go, like you said you can pull a credit report without a SSN, so no need to give the dealer the SSN. But for me personally, I currently share an account with my parents on a family plan in which I pay my portion of the bill and they pay theirs.

You would surprised who's lifing SSNs off of innocent people then using them to open new charge accounts and whatnot and never get caught, at least not for a while anyway. That sweet young lady behind the counter at Altell could be extremely good at remembering numbers, she uses it to her advantage. She memorizes your SSN after a few glances then when she goes on break, she scrawls it down on a napkin, and stuffs it in her pants. Then she goes home and uses your SSN and other information you provided to open a new MasterCard account so she can go on an online shopping spree at Abercrombie & Fitch, max it out and you're left with the bill. The only thing MasterCard will do is say, "Sucks to be you."

BTW - on the note of a dealer reporting sales of 10,00 or more, my truck was purchased at 6,000, there was no need to fill out this form.
 
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