Laptop theft results in data breach for P.K. Yonge employees, students

August 31, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The personal information of more than 8,300 current and former students and employees of P.K. Yonge Development Research School was on a laptop computer stolen last month.

P.K. Yonge is a kindergarten-through-grade-12 laboratory school affiliated with University of Florida’s College of Education.

The computer files contained employee payroll, employee parking permit and student information dating back to 2000 and included names, Social Security numbers and, in some cases, Florida driver’s license numbers. Officials have confirmed that no student academic or medical records were on the computer. Also, no credit card information was on the computer.

This week, school officials mailed letters to 841 people explaining that their information was included in the breach. Additional letters will be mailed next week once names and addresses are matched with Social Security and driver’s license numbers. School officials have determined contact information may not be available for everyone with information on the computer.

“We regret that this incident occurred and are working diligently to notify the people who may be impacted by this theft,” P.K. Yonge Director Fran Vandiver said.

The laptop computer was stolen July 23 from a P.K. Yonge employee’s rental car in San Francisco. The theft was reported to California police and later to the University of Florida Police Department. The computer files were protected with passwords, but school officials have no way of knowing if the information was accessed.
University and school officials are taking steps to prevent a similar situation in the future. P.K. Yonge is installing protective encryption software on laptops that contain restricted data, and the university continues to review and improve its policies and procedures for protecting information.

“Employees and students have entrusted us with their personal information, and we take that responsibility seriously,” said Elias Eldayrie, UF’s chief information officer. “We are committed, as always, to continuous improvement and doing everything that we can to protect university data.”

People who believe their information may have been on the computer should take appropriate precautions to safeguard it. Learn about the steps to take to reduce the risk of fraud and read the available information on this privacy incident online at: http://privacy.ufl.edu/incidents/.

Anyone with questions about this breach should call the UF Privacy Office Hotline at 1-866-876-4472 until Sept. 6. Starting Sept. 7, all callers should use 1-877-740-6997.