U.S. senator seeks identity theft safeguards

Call for government protection comes after the theft of a laptop storing nearly 100,000 Social Security numbers.

Reuters

April 28, 2005 9:00 a.m. PT

2 min read

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday called for more government protection against identity theft after a laptop storing nearly 100,000 Social Security numbers was purloined from a California university.

"The incident at Berkeley was the latest in a series of recent compromises of Social Security numbers or other personal financial information that could be used by identity thieves," Feinstein said in Riverside, Calif.

"It clearly demonstrates the need for a comprehensive approach to identity theft in order to give Americans more control over their personal information."

Police are probing the theft of the laptop at the University of California, Berkeley, that contained personal information on nearly 100,000 graduates, graduate students and applicants.

University officials say the stolen computer contained information on most individuals who applied to graduate school between fall 2001 and spring 2004, graduate students who enrolled between fall 1989 and fall 2003, and recipients of doctoral degrees from 1976 through 1999.

The computer was stolen March 11 from a restricted area of the university's graduate division offices. There has been no evidence the data has been retrieved or misused, school officials said.

Feinstein is proposing legislation requiring consumers to be notified when their personal data is compromised. She also demanded that the federal government restore funding for California's identity theft task forces.

The Berkeley theft comes as schools and businesses are under increased scrutiny over protecting personal information. Just last week, officials reported that hackers had attacked servers at another California university, potentially gaining access to the personal information of about 59,000 people.

Congress is considering greater regulation of data brokers following a rash of break-ins and other data losses that have heightened concern about identity theft, a crime that costs consumers and business an estimated $50 billion annually.