Another Federal Laptop Stolen: Motor Carrier Licenses May Be At Risk

Article

A laptop that might contain personally identifiable information on 193 people who have commercial driver’s licenses was stolen in Baltimore this week, transportation officials said Friday.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, said a the laptop was stolen Tuesday from a government-owned vehicle and was reported to Baltimore police.

FMCSA said the computer might contain names, dates of birth and commercial driver’s license numbers of 193 people from 40 motor carrier companies. It does not contain financial or medical information, the agency said.

The motor carriers have been notified of the potential security breach the FMCSA said.

The states that issued the commercial driver’s licenses are Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia and Washington, D.C.

FMCSA urged drivers to contact their employers for more information, or call the agency’s hot line: 1-800-832-5660.

This is the latest in a series of thefts of government laptop computers that contain sensitive data:

In May, a laptop containing the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of veterans discharged since 1975 was stolen from the Aspen Hill home of a Veterans Affairs employee.

Last month, the Transportation Department inspector general’s office said that one of its laptop computers containing names, birth dates and Social Security numbers for 132,955 Florida residents was stolen from a government vehicle in suburban Miami.

Two laptop computers with personal information on about 31,000 Navy recruiters and their prospective recruits were stolen from Navy offices in New Jersey in June and July.