MINNESOTA DATA NEEDS MORE CARE Data needs more care | International Falls Daily Journal

Data needs more care

Technology is great. It can improve efficiency and aid in productivity.

But that can only happen when the technology employed for a specific job is handled properly.

What's not great about technological advances in our system of storing information is that it can be loaded onto a small laptop computer. And that means it can be stolen.

Such is the recent case with personal information for 219 Minnesotans licensed by the state Department of Commerce. The names, Social Security numbers and other information about these people were on a lap top computer which was reported stolen sometime in December. What's especially disturbing is that the computer wasn't reported stolen to the agency by the vendor for three weeks.

And this isn't the first case of personal information that was stored on a laptop being stolen. Many reports have recently surfaced about the potential for personal data of regular folks being accessed by bad guys who have stolen computers or computer equipment.

The concern hits home when recently, some Borderland residents who have donated blood were notified that personal information may have been compromised in a computer data theft incident.

Earlier, the Associate Press reported that there were more security breaches of computer information in 2007 than ever.

Clearly, the increase is a result of the need to store data, but also a result of human error. The ability to store large amounts of data on physically small items isn't new. What may be new is that people who carry such important information may grow careless about where laptops and other devices are kept.

We must assume that these losses of information are accidental by those responsible for caring for the data. But losses of this kind of information must be fully investigated to avoid other thefts from occurring.

Perhaps the answer is simple: important information about people shouldn't be kept on a laptop computer that can be easily stolen.