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Computers, counties, and stolen data

   Posted on 06/18/2007 by mysa-admin

   Oh, those pesky, portable laptops.

   Because of their sleek, lightweight, liftable design, it appears as though
   Bexar County has run into another notification situation — one in which
   deputies’ personal information may have been compromised, and the only way
   they seem to be finding out is through gossip.

   Late  last  month, a laptop was burgled containing the social security
   numbers, drivers’ licenses and other vital information of every licensed law
   enforcement officer in the state.

   That includes peace officers, constables, jailers and more, said Lillian
   Alderete,  open  records  coordinator  for the licensing agency, Texas
   Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education. Alderete
   said the laptop, which was stolen from a Houston company, is double-password
   protected, and officials doubt the thieves knew what they got.

   A 2005 state law requires companies to inform people when their personal
   information  may  have been compromised, and the Bexar County District
   Attorney’s Office has decided that extends to governments, too.

   The  county  dodged  that  bullet  recently when a former Bexar County
   Information Services employee, Ricky Allen Daniels, was indicted for misuse
   of public information. He’d stolen the entire county employee database, and
   his then-roommate, Simon Michael Bland, was trying to shop around the names
   of drug investigation deputies.

   Daniels and Bland were sentenced last month to eight years in prison, but
   the crime was committed in 2003, before the law was passed. The county never
   did notify employees. Some of its disparate departments and offices have
   since adopted notification policies, while others have not.

   In this case, the obligation may lie at the feet of the county, of the
   sheriff’s  office in particular, or with TCLEOSE. Nobody appears to be
   running with it.

   The Houston company that lost the TCLEOSE info sent letters to all the law
   enforcement agencies in the state, Alderete said, leaving it up to them to
   notify their officers.

   On Thursday, Madonna Minarich, spokeswoman for Sheriff Ralph Lopez, said
   she’d heard of the breach but was out of town when it happened, and would
   get back to me on how it was handled. She did not return calls Friday or
   Monday.

   But at least some deputies had been notified — by the grapevine.

   One said Friday he’d gotten an e-mail from somebody outside the county. “Of
   course I sent that to everybody I know,” he said. No official notification
   — unless they stuck it on the bulletin board, he said. A further check
   revealed no such missive at the watercooler.

   — Elizabeth Allen
   This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.
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   Computers, counties, and stolen data
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   Oh, those pesky, portable laptops. Because of their sleek, lightweight,
   liftable design, it appears as though Bexar County has run into another
   notification situation — one in which deputies’ personal information may
   have been compromised, and the only way they seem to be finding out is
   through gossip. Late last month, a laptop was burgled [...]
   Read More

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