BOWLING GREEN Ohio
About 1,800 current and former Bowling Green State University students are being notified about the loss of a computer flash drive containing their personal information, the university has announced.
Accounting professor W. David Albrecht reported to university officials on May 30 that he had lost the flash drive, a portable file storage device, the school said Wednesday. It contained information on undergraduate and graduate students he has taught since 1992.
The device held the Social Security numbers of 199 students from the professor’s 1992 classes. It also held the names, grades and university identification numbers of about 1,600 other students.
“We don’t believe the flash drive was stolen. It may have been misplaced, lost or destroyed, but we don’t know for sure,” said university spokesman Bruce Petryshak.
There is no indication that information on the drive has been accessed, the university said.
The university sent letters to those affected and posted a notice on its Web site and has offered to purchase identity-theft prevention services for one year for those whose Social Security numbers were on the drive.
–Associated Press
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