OPPINIONS PLEASE

As most of you are aware im going through a housing problem,which is being dealt with by community legal services in hull city centre,we recieved a letter yesterday from a firm of solicitors in sheffield who hold the contract to this service,and they regret to inform us that some of my wifes personal data which was kept on a computer has been stolen,which in fact was a laptop stolen in a burglary at one of their employees homes,i wonder what our personal details are doing in someones home ?

This sounds to me as if it`s the case that was reported last week on Look North and the HDM. From what I can gather name, address and DOB were listed. Depending on who has stolen the laptop there are varying degrees of concern. To be honest I would imagine that it is some low life opportunist thief who wouldn`t have the first idea what to do with this information.
I can even understand why the laptop was in someones home if they were going to do some work on it, what I can`t understand is why all this information is not password protected.

For a start I would guess that the details should not have been on the laptop, the laptop should not have been taken home and as Tiger says, the whole shebang should have been encrypted. Working in the NHS I can assure you that all our stuff is password protected and encrypted, to the point of utter annoyance. If you don't move the mouse for 10 minutes you are logged off and have to re-enter your password. As you might imagine, much of the day is spent re-entering your password. Irritating but necessary.

Strange thing is in the letters first few sentences we are told,to be assured no banking or credit info was contained,but at the end of the letter,they advise me to inform the bank of this incident,also to be vigilant for irregular activity,specifically around benefits,loans,credit cards,unsolicited purchases or communications.

My mum got the same letter Steve. I asked: Why are your personal details being taken home to someone's house?