Laptop containing private student data stolen

Memorial University informed its students that a professor’s stolen laptop contained private information about students in two classes.

The professor returned from an out-of-province trip to discover his private residence had been broken into and his personal laptop stolen. The theft occurred between January 15 – 18, 2008.

Michael Burns of the Faculty of Business Administration kept class lists on the laptop. The lists contained student names and student numbers for two classes with about 150 students effected overall.

We are obviously very concerned about the possibility of such privacy breaches,” said Rosemary Smith, the university’s information access and privacy protection coordinator. “Our first priority has been to advise our students of what’s happened. We remain confident that the information that may have been exposed by this theft was minimal and cannot lead to further problems for the students affected."