Data Loss Source: Thieves stole several computers containing shoppers’ personal data from Speedmark’s Woodlands, Texas office. Speedmark is a marketing services firm that employs “mystery shoppers” to observe employee behavior for clients.
Date of Loss: December 16, 2006.
Size of Loss: Unknown
Affected Individuals: Mystery shoppers working for Speedmark
Geographic Focus: US
Data contained: The stolen information included names, addresses, e-mail accounts, and Social Security numbers of Speedmark employees and contractors.
Additional Notes: The theft was discovered on Dec. 16, 2006, but many shoppers contracted to Speedmark did not receive letters notifying them of the breach until mid-February, 2007.
Additional Information: Consumer Affairs

Data Loss Source: Credit and debit card account information including PIN numbers was stolen by high-tech thieves who apparently broke into checkout-line card readers and PIN pads and tampered with them.
Date of Loss: February 19, 2007
Size of Loss: Unknown
Affected Individuals: Stop & Shop Supermarkets customers
Geographic Focus: US
Data contained: Credit- and debit-card information belonging to certain customers
Additional Notes: Stop & Shop executives investigated and found that the keypads shoppers use to submit PIN-based transactions had been broken into, tampered with, and then reinstalled. For more information, check out Boston Globe and Consumer Affairs.

Data Loss Source: A doctor’s laptop was stolen from the Kaiser Medical Center containing medical information of 22,000 patients.
Date of Loss: February 14, 2007
Size of Loss: 22,000 patient files
Affected Individuals: Information on 20,000 patients
Geographic Focus: US
Data contained: Personal information on 20,000 patients; only 500 records included Social Security numbers
Additional Notes: Kaiser Permanente is in the process of notifying as many as 22,000 patients of a possible breach of their private medical information. There were no details provided about where or how the laptop was taken, but a Kaiser spokesman said it was likely a random and isolated crime of opportunity.

More Info: CBS5

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Data Loss Source: U.S. Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs, VA Medical Center: An employee reported a portable hard drive stolen or missing that might contain personal information about veterans.
Date of Loss: January 22, 2007
Size of Loss: Information on 48,000 veterans.
Affected Individuals: US veterans
Geographic Focus: US
Data contained: Personal information on 48,000 veterans
Additional Notes: An FBI investigation is underway to determine the whereabouts of a lost U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs external hard drive. According to The Associated Press, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., said that as many as 20,000 of the records on the device were not encrypted.
Additional Information: SearchSecurity.com

Data Loss Source: Backup computer tapes containing personal information about workers and patients – some of it sensitive – have gone missing.
Date Reported: February 12, 2006
Size of Loss: Information on 135,000 workers and patients
Affected Individuals:
Geographic Focus: Massachusetts
Data contained: Eight university computer tapes, routinely sent to a contractor that makes microfiche archives of the data, held Social Security numbers, addresses and direct-deposit bank account information for 52,567 former and current employees. A separate tape from the hospital had names, dates of birth, sex, race and medical record numbers for 83,000 new hospital patients seen between July 4 and Dec. 18, 2006, or those who updated their information during that period.
Additional Notes: Hopkins officials said they believe the data, which did not include patient medical information, was not compromised.
Additional Information: Baltimore Sun