A thief at the University of California at Berkeley has stolen one laptop—and, with it, personal information for almost 100,000 people. The computer, stolen from a campus office, contains the Social Security numbers of Berkeley students who received doctorates between 1976 and 1999, graduate students enrolled from 1989 to 2003, and graduate-school applicants from recent years.
The campus police suspect the burglar wanted a free computer, not a cache of personal data. But, in accordance with California law, officials are setting out to notify all of the people whose Social Security numbers have been exposed.
