MyLaptopGPS

Oregon Health and Science University reported a laptop theft earlier this week. Apparently an employee, who traveled to Chicago, had left the laptop unprotected in a hotel room. As it was easily accessible, the laptop was stolen.

Now OHSU is mailing about 890 patients, whose information was stored on the laptop, detailing the theft. Jim Newman, the OHSU media contact, remarked, “The laptop was password-protected, and officials are unsure how much patient information was left undeleted on the hard drive” (as written in Peter Korn’s article at The Outlook Online). He also noted that the laptop did not contain Social Security numbers, diagnoses or treatments for any of the patients.

However, the laptop did contain patient names, telephone numbers, birth dates, medical diagnoses and treatment categories.

The laptop was password protected, and OHSU officials agree that the information stored on the laptop would not be enough for the theft of any patients identities. However, the information could be used to call OHSU and retrieve further information on a patient. In preparation, the hospital has flagged all of the names, so if a call is made regarding any of the approximately 890 patients, it will be monitored and authenticated.

OHSU officials noted that this theft was not targeted, in their opinions, because another laptop and other personal items were also stolen. Newman suggested that the hard drives were probably wiped clean and sold for profit.

Though Newman seems optimistic, the entire situation would definitely put my back up. Had OHSU been prepared with technology like MyLaptopGPS laptop tracking, all 890 patients could rest easy tonight knowing exactly where their information was.

On November 6th, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced that an Aging and Adult Services Division laptop was stolen sometime during the flight of an employee who was returning from a conference in Atlanta, GA.

In an article in Medical News Today, the NCDHHS assured that the laptop was password protected. However, passwords are easy enough to get around. Data encryption would be significantly more effective.

NCDHHS mentioned that the laptop contained the personal information of some of the clients receiving home and community services from the state. The Division of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) has contacted each of the individuals whose information may have been compromised. The letter also provides guidance on how to place a fraud alert on your credit report, and how to monitor your credit report regularly as the victims’ sensitive data may not be used immediately.

Unfortunately, most of the victims in this incident are, in fact, elderly, and are only as familiar with the internet as anyone else in that generation. So the notifications, though helpful, create more of a hassle than any data encryption technology could possibly impose. The phone calls necessary for just ONE elderly individual to receive the proper credit coverage take hours at best.

And this extreme time-wasting issue could have been resolved easily had the stolen laptop been equipped with security technology such as that provided by MyLaptopGPS.