A University of Maine laptop computer and media card containing student information – including Social Security numbers – was stolen from the checked bag of a faculty member while on an airline flight.
How many victims? 941.
What type of personal information? For 604 students: names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, grade data and course information. For 337 students: names, course names and years.
What happened? A University of Maine laptop computer and media card containing the personal information was stolen from the checked bag of a faculty member while on an airline flight.
What was the response? The loss was reported to the airline and Massachusetts State Police. All students whose information included Social Security numbers are being offered a free year of identity protection and credit monitoring services.
Details: On Feb. 10, the laptop computer and media card were reported stolen from a checked bag on a flight from Seattle to Boston. The personal information related to students enrolled in physics courses dating to 1999. The 604 students were enrolled from 1999 to 2007, and the 337 students were enrolled from 2000 to 2014.
Quote: “As of Feb. 18, there has been no indication that the data has been used,” according to the notification posted to the University of Maine website.
Source: umaine.edu, “UMaine Working With Information Security, Law Enforcement on Theft of Computer Containing Student Roster Data,” Feb. 18, 2015.
