Protecting Private Data
Letter to the Office of the Chancellor staff by Bev Schuft,
ITS System Director
June 1, 2006
By now you are most likely aware of the Department of Veterans Affairs data analyst who lost veterans' personal information when his home was burglarized and his laptop was taken. His laptop computer files contained names and dates of birth for as many as 26.5 million veterans and the Social Security numbers of 19.6 million of those veterans. This type of data is used to open credit card accounts, take out bank loans or engage in other forms of identity theft. For the full story see:
Worker Often Took Data Home
By Christopher Lee, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, May 26, 2006; Page A19
The wide variety of portable devices we use on a daily basis offers tremendous convenience, but the VA incident serves as a reminder that we need to make sure we are careful in how we handle private data (e.g. private personnel data, Social Security numbers, individual demographic information).
Do not keep this information on portable devices such as laptops or PDAs, unless absolutely necessary.
If you do need such information in a portable medium, take great care in protecting the device from theft or other unauthorized access.
To underscore the seriousness of this issue, information security awareness training, " Public Jobs - Private Data" will begin this fall, to help all employees understand how to protect the information used in day-to-day activities.
You should also know that in order to help individuals protect themselves against identity theft, the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA) was amended effective August 1, 2005, to require state agencies to notify affected individuals of breaches in the security of private or confidential data about themselves in any medium. If you become aware of a breach of private or confidential data, report it immediately to your supervisor or the network support line: 651-649-5982 and select the "network" option.
Bev Schuft
ITS System Director
30 7th Street East Suite 350
St. Paul, MN 55101-7804
Phone: 651-201-1443
Fax: 651-917-4731
bev.schuft@csu.mnscu.edu
