The University of Vermont has been notifying some individuals that a USB drive with their information was in an employee’s purse that was stolen. The university learned of the theft on September 15, and the employee notified the police.
The USB drive reportedly contained the following types of information:
- Completed UVM disclosure notices that had the employees’ names, SSN, and date of birth;
- Completed acknowledgement forms that contain names, SSN, date of birth, driver’s license numbers and state of issuance, previous aliases, current and prior addresses, phone number, and email addresses.
The forms are used as part of authorization for background checks. The stolen USB did not, however, contain any of the results of the background checks.
In a letter to those affected, Mara Saule, Chief Privacy Officer for UVM, noted that “Your work with minors as part of the Risk and Resilience in Maltreated Children study required that a background check be done on you.”
The total number of affected individuals was not disclosed.