Thousands of Deaf NTID Alumni and Students at Risk for Identity Theft
Sunday August 31, 2008
Update September 2, 2008: I have confirmed with several fellow alumni that they received the letter stating that their information was on the stolen laptop.
The Democrat and Chronicle reports today (Aug. 31, 2008) that a laptop has been stolen from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) that contains "the personal information of applicants to NTID dating back to 1968." This information contains the names, birthdates, AND Social Security numbers for over 12,000 students who had applied to NTID since 1968! Full details are in the Democrat and Chronicle. NTID Alumni must be alert for fraud and immediately notify RIT police at (585) 475-2853 if they discover fraud. There is also a FAQ on the RIT website.
Related on About.com: About.com Guide to Identity Theft
Comments
I am very fortunate that I am an alumnus of Gallaudet University, thanks God! Poor NTID alumni. :p
i still don’t understand why someone has a laptop full of that kind of information.
Who was it that bore the responsibility to hold such sensitive data? Why even have it on a laptop?
Yeah, very stupid part of them putting a very sensative information into a laptop, no matter where it may be! It pisses me off since I was a student at NTID for only a brief time before transferring to Gallaudet. Obviously, I must make a call to rescue my personal info asap.
Just hope somehow that it remains safe. Jeez!
It is unfortunate to see someone stole a laptop with all of the information in it. They are not the only one that had such an experience. There are many companies that had lost the information too.
This is why my business partner Carla Masi, my wife Christina Felix and myself work together to help people prevent identity theft.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said 1 out of 4 people have experienced Identity theft per year. It is not all about financial issues. There are 4 other areas that have stolen or use by someone else. The list of 4 are social security, driver license, medical, and character theft.
If you are interested to know more about Identity Theft Shield and Legal plan.
Please contact us on VP 520 904 8069 or Carla’s VP # 520 836 3333. You can also call us on voice 520 904 8065. Lets hope the person who stole has not used anyone’s information. Thanks
Not only alumni that were affected. It also affected people who applied to attend NTID. The newspaper shows ‘12,700 applicants” and nothing about alumnis. I applied there but never went there so it also affected me.
“A laptop stolen Monday contained the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of about 12,700 applicants to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and another 1,100 people at Rochester Institute of Technology.”
Having this kind of sensitive data on a laptop borders on sheer stupidity! Laptops are prone to being lost or stolen. I hope the file had some kind of security lock on it but that’s highly doubtful.
Why the heck do they keep ssn of alumnis in their laptop????? I want the explanation!!!!
Gee, senstive info in laptop? Suppose to leave in main CPU and main building. Gosh, fire that person who is responsible. Fire all Alumni officers. They know better than that.
Boy am I fuming!! I called the toll free to find out why the heck they kept my name, birth date and, the worse fo all, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!! and I demanded to know whose office where the laptop was stolen . The hot line person refused to answer my questions. This is very upsetting!! If i had known about it then I would have asked them to remove my personal informatio from their databasen. Boy am I so violated!!
Well… I am just wondering why this is placed on a laptop instead of desktop? Maybe this does not matter much. Someone could just take desktop CPU unit easily.
So much for the security there… I am wondering about the security of these entrance doors, office door, and computer security cable (obviously not attached to desk). Extra precautions & security measures obviously need to be upgraded at that place.
I did call RIT’s hotline number and they confirmed that my name is included in the laptop. They said that file is encrypted - making this a bit difficult to break in.
If anything happens to my financial account, I certainly will hold RIT responsible for any loss/damage I may encounter and I will do whatever to get that back to me.
I am an alumni who is also on the laptop. Unfortunately, since I live in Hawaii, I didn’t find out about it until I picked up the mail yesterday, almost 2 weeks after the incident! Just think of every place or institution we have given our SS# to… every job, school, bank. Yes… it is ridiculous that our sensitive information was on a laptop (for research purposes, I think), but how many other places have the same info? I will go through the same trouble as all the other affected individuals, but I will think twice before mindlessly handing over my name, birth date, and SS# to anyone in the future.
I want to know who wants to form a class-action lawsuit against NTID. Anyone?