Roane State: thousands of names, SS numbers on stolen device

Roane State: thousands of names, SS numbers on stolen device

HARRIMAN (WATE) -- Roane State Community College has posted an "ID alert" on its Web site after the theft of a storage device containing confidential information on more than 10,000 people.

The college says on October 12, a 4GB flash drive used for work-related purposes, along with personal property, was reported stolen from an employee's 1995 Infiniti 130T. 

The car was broken into while parked off campus. The owner told investigators it was accidentally left unlocked.

The theft is being investigated by the Knox County Sheriff's Office.

Officials determined the flash drive contained primarily names and Social Security numbers of 10,941 people, including 1,194 current or former employees and 9,747 current or former students.

The drive also contained Social Security numbers only, but no names, for 5,036 current or former students.

No academic records were included on the device.

The college has sent letters to anyone who may be affected by this theft and has notified major consumer reporting agencies.

"While we have no reason to believe that the data was stolen for identity-theft purposes, we urge those affected to closely monitor their financial accounts for irregularities," said Danny Gibbs, Roane State vice president for Business and Finance on the college Web site.

"Roane State deeply regrets the exposure of this data. While Roane State's policies define rules for protecting confidential data, when something like this happens, you stop, step back, and take a look at everything you are doing. We are reviewing our procedures to determine what additional measures can be put in place to keep something like this from happening again," Gibbs added. 

"Immediately after the theft, we did not want to release information that would interfere with the investigation," Gibbs said. "Once it became clear an arrest, or the recovery of the device, was not imminent, we informed those affected as quickly as possible."