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BP lose laptop containing sensitive claimant data
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March 30, 2011
Original URL: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/BP_lose_laptop_containing_sensitive_claimant_data



Oil company BP has reportedly lost a laptop containing the personal
information of approximately 13,000 people who filed claims against the
company following the ''Deepwater Horizon'' disaster last year.

Tom Mueller, a spokesperson for the company, confirmed they had written
to "individuals impacted by this event to inform them about the loss of
their personal data and to offer them free credit monitoring services to
help protect their personal information." Mueller said the laptop was
lost during "routine business travel," and was reported to have the
ability to be deactivated remotely.

BP refused to comment about the employee who lost the laptop. The data
on the laptop contained the names, addresses, Social Security numbers,
phone numbers and the dates of birth of claimants, which was unencrypted
even though the laptop itself is protected by a password.

The data on the laptop concerned claimants against the company after one
of its oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, sending up to 4.9
million barrels of oil into the ocean, which eventually reached the
southern U.S. coastline. 

One resident affected by the the oil disaster and the lost laptop
expressed his outrage at BP when interviewed by NPR. "It's terrible, I
kinda work hard for the things I have," he said. "I wouldn't want
somebody with a computer to be able to take it from me. It's very
disturbing. It's like another gallon of gas thrown on the fire."

== Sources == 
* http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/29/bp.lost.laptop/index.html
* http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=134961948
* http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/08/new-estimate-puts-oil-leak-at-49-million-barrels.html



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