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Laptops Containing Verizon Employee Data Are Stolen

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 9, 2006

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Many Verizon employees got bad news from the company in early March. Two laptops containing personal data on an undisclosed number of Verizon workers were stolen and have not been recovered.

Information regarding the theft is sparse, but the telco notified affected customers on March 1. The letter stated that the laptops were stolen in an act of "random theft," and the data was password-protected.

In an interview with ConsumerAffairs.com, Verizon spokesperson Heather Wilner confirmed that the laptops were stolen from "a Verizon building," but could not provide any more information for "security reasons."

Wilner could not confirm exactly when Verizon was made aware of the theft, but reiterated that it seemed to be a "petty, random act," and that "we've seen no use of the information thus far."

Verizon has offered free credit monitoring services for two years for any affected employees.

Verizon has had a number of issues surrounding the privacy of its records in recent months, particularly with its mobile subsidiary, Verizon Wireless.

The company suffered a software glitch in August 2005 that exposed millions of customer records for viewing by other customers.

Verizon Wireless later sued to prevent a Florida-based investigative agency from procuring records on its customers by posing as Verizon employees.

The company also joined other cell phone providers in suing third-party businesses such as LocateCell.com and Celltolls that were obtaining cell phone records to sell over the Web.

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