January 17, 2008

Tennessee Loses Laptop With SSNs of 337,000 Voters

The theft of a laptop containing Social Security numbers of Nashville, Tenn.-area voters is expected to cost local officials about $1 million as they roll out identity-theft protection to those affected. County officials say that thieves broke into Davidson County Election Commission offices on the weekend before Christmas, smashing a window with a rock and then making off with a $3,000 router, a digital camera, and a pair of Dell Latitude laptops containing names and Social Security numbers of all 337,000 registered voters in the county. County election officials began notifying residents of the breach on Jan. 2, and the local government is offering victims one year of free identity theft protection from Debix Identity Protection Network. Debix says that 25 to 35 percent of victims of this type of breach typically request this service.

Nashville laptop theft may cost $1 million, IDG News, January 14, 2008.