Ho, Hum. Another personal data theft

An article in the Wall Street Journal reports MCI as the latest culprit. As long as the consequences for the custodian of the information are small, we can expect a continuing stream of such data protection lapses. And it's kind of hard to totally opt out of the economy.

A laptop containing the names and Social Security numbers of about 16,500 current and former employees of MCI Inc. was stolen in Colorado Springs last month, marking the latest in a string of incidents in which companies have lost control of customer or employee information.

The computer was stolen from a car that was parked in the garage at the home of an MCI financial analyst. An MCI spokeswoman said that the laptop was password protected but declined to say whether the employee information was encrypted. She also declined to say whether the employee, who wasn't identified, was authorized to carry such information on a laptop.