Data of 100,000 Berkeley Grads Stolen

For the second time this month, a California university has exposed personal information of its students, highlighting the increasing risk of identity theft. UC Berkeley officials acknowledged Monday that a laptop stolen on March 11 contained names and Social Security numbers of more than 98,000 individuals.

The university waited to announce the theft with hopes that police could track down the person responsible. The crime occurred in a "restricted area of the Graduate Division that was momentarily unoccupied," Berkeley officials said.

Those whose data was potentially compromised include graduate students dating back to 1989 and those who received doctoral degrees since 1976. Berkeley graduate school applicants from Fall 2001 to Spring 2004 were also listed on the stolen computer.

"At this time the campus has no evidence that personal data were actually retrieved or misused," the university said on a special Web site set up to answer questions about the theft. A toll-free telephone number has also been established.

Just last week, California State University, Chico announced that personal data of as many as 59,000 students and staff had been accessed after a hacker broke into the school's computer systems. LexisNexis also said this month that data from 32,000 customers may have been compromised.

The issue of identity theft came into the spotlight after ChoicePoint said in February that 145,000 of its customers may have had their personal information stolen, which resulted in 750 reports of identity theft in California alone.

The recent influx of identity theft reports has led the United States Congress to call for regulation to limit the amount of data agencies can collect without federal oversight. Several Democratic lawmakers said they are preparing to introduce legislation to limit the activities of data profilers like ChoicePoint.