November 2008 — News
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Student Information Taken in Disk Theft
The theft of a computer disk with student information has caused embarrassment and expense for a school district in Tennessee. According to coverage in The Jackson Sun, the disk containing the social security numbers and test scores for a school's 2007-2008 sixth graders was taken from the car of an elementary school principal in the Jackson-Madison County School System.
The district will pay service firm National ID Recovery $3,000 to monitor the personal information of more about 200 students for a year. The district has no evidence that information on the disk has been used. The company provides software and services related to protecting against and managing problems related to identity theft.
The principal, who is in his first year of the job at East Intermediate School, faces "significant disciplinary actions," as a result of the loss, according to the article.
"The disk was taken out of my car in a briefcase, and I'm extremely sorry that this has happened," principal Bill Walker said in a letter sent to parents. "I wish as much effort has been made to promote that East Intermediate has made adequate yearly progress and good report card grades. This is a great school, and I'm honored to be here. I hate, if anything, that this takes away from what we're doing here, which is educate children."
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About the author: Dian Schaffhauser is a writer who covers technology and business for a number of publications. Contact her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.
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