CMS files stolen from employee’s car

[Erica Absetz <eabsetz () opensecurityfoundation org>]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/08/3770745/cms-files-stolen-from-employees.html

About 80 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees have been warned to
be on guard against identity theft after files containing their
personal data were stolen from a human resource employee’s car.

The personnel files, which contained names, addresses, Social Security
numbers, dates of birth and driver’s license numbers, were stolen Nov.
28, when the HR employee stopped for lunch, CMS spokeswoman Tahira
Stalberte said. She said a CMS investigation determined that the
employee, who was driving from one district office to another, did
nothing wrong.

Affected employees, who work in the transportation department, got a
letter notifying them on Dec. 3, Stalberte said. The Observer got a
copy from a concerned employee over the weekend.

CMS said Monday that 60 employees’ records were stolen, but revised
that Tuesday to 80.

CMS is providing one year of free Equifax credit and ID monitoring to
the employees whose data was stolen, at a total cost of about $8,000,
Stalberte said. The letter from Kelly Gwaltney, recently named chief
human resources officer, urges the employees to be vigilant.

“We encourage you to visit the Federal Trade Commission website at
www.ftc.gov ... to obtain more information on privacy guidelines and
to monitor your account statements and credit reports to ensure that
your personal information is not misused,” the letter says. “We take
our obligation to protect employee information seriously, and deeply
regret any inconvenience or concern that this incident may cause you.
”
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