Data Loss Source: Investigators found credit card numbers blowing in the wind. These piles and papers contained hundreds of old receipts from Domino’s Pizza stores. The former owner had been discarding boxes of old records and somehow all those receipts got loose.
Date of Loss: June 1, 2008
Size of Loss : 6,000,000
Affected Individuals: Domino’s customers
Geographic Focus: Tucson, AZ
Data contained: Credit card numbers and names on receipts dating back to several years ago.
Additional Notes: Tucson Police and several officers came to collect the records we found and have them destroyed.
Additional Information: KVOA.com

The New York Times reports that Social Security officials, concerned about the risk of identity theft, are calling for immediate action to remove Social Security numbers from the Medicare cards used by millions of Americans.

But Medicare officials have pooh-poohed the proposal, saying it would be costly and impractical.

In a new report, the inspector general of Social Security, Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr., says “immediate action is needed.”

“Displaying such information on Medicare cards unnecessarily places millions of individuals at risk for identity theft,” Mr. O’Carroll said. “We do not believe a federal agency should place more value on convenience than the security of its beneficiaries’ personal information.”

In a memorandum to the heads of federal departments and agencies in May 2007, Clay Johnson III, deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said they should draw up plans to “eliminate the unnecessary collection and use of Social Security numbers within 18 months.”

Data Loss Source: A metal box containing the backup tapes, which contained billing records for approximately 2.2 million patients and guarantors, was stolen on Monday, June 2, from a car belonging to a driver who worked for an independent storage company contracted by the University of Utah Hospitals & Clinics.
Date of Loss: June 11, 2008
Size of Loss : 2,200,000
Affected Individuals: Patients
Geographic Focus: Utah
Data contained: The billing records included patient names, related demographic information and diagnostic codes. None of the records contained credit card information. Records for a subset of 1.3 million patients also contained Social Security numbers. Additional Notes: The University of Utah Hospitals & Clinics is launching a broad-based effort to inform its patients about the recent theft of billing records and to provide them with resources to protect their confidentiality.
Additional Information: Business Wire

Data Loss Source: A hacker broke into a Chilean government server, and then posted personal information from over six million of the country’s citizens.
Date of Loss: June 1, 2008
Size of Loss : 6,000,000
Affected Individuals: Residents
Geographic Focus: Chili
Data contained: The data included names, identity card numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mails, and academic records. It was taken from Education Ministry, military, and Electoral Service servers.
Additional Notes: Data from the Education Ministry apparently was used to track students who applied for public transportation discounts and university education; the military data was on 8,919 Chileans who had registered for the army; and the Electoral Service contained data on those registered to vote.
Additional Information: BetaNews.com