For Thousands Of Pilots, Information At Risk
A laptop computer that contains personal information about 42,792 Florida pilots was stolen from a government-owned vehicle in the Miami, Fla., area on July 27, the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) said yesterday. The laptop was password-protected, but it contains a database that includes names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. No financial or medical information is on the laptop, the OIG said. Pilots who obtained their airmen certificates after March 2003 are not affected. Also, although the database was being used by special agents in connection with an investigation into the use of fraudulent information to obtain pilot certificates, the list did not name individuals under investigation but instead was a general list of airman certificate holders in the state of Florida, the OIG said. Past reviews have identified people ineligible to hold these certificates due to disqualifying prior criminal history or the use of fraudulent Social Security numbers.


What To Do Now
While special agents and the Miami-Dade Police Department work to recover the laptop, pilots who believe their personal data might be at risk can call OIG's Hotline Complaint Center at 1-800-424-9071 or go to the OIG Web site for more information. The OIG also said it will establish a reward for information leading to the laptop's recovery. The OIG added it has no reason to believe that the laptop was targeted because of its contents. "We are making every effort to recover the stolen laptop and resecure the data it contains," said Acting Inspector General Todd J. Zinser. "We seriously regret this matter and take our responsibilities seriously. We have taken action and will continue to take steps necessary to prevent this from happening again." The OIG said it is working with members of Congress, federal, state, and local agencies, and the news media to help ensure that at-risk parties are aware of the situation and the steps they may take to protect themselves from misuse of their personal information. Individual notification letters are being sent to at-risk Floridians to every extent possible. The OIG has taken steps to ensure that no other OIG laptops or portable media devices assigned to field offices and headquarters employees contain such data. The agency is strengthening its policies regarding laptop computers. More information about how to cope with lost identity information is available online.

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