Two laptop computers were stolen from an off-campus UW Medical Center office late last month with the names and personal data of about 1,600 patients of the UW Travel Medicine Service, a university official confirms.
The laptops were stolen from the UW office in the Northgate Executive Center, either late Dec. 29 or early Dec. 30, UW Medicine spokeswoman Clare Hagerty said.
One of the two computers contains password-protected information about the patients, which could include their names, social security numbers, maiden names, birth dates, diagnoses and other personal data -- but not including their detailed medical records -- Hagerty said. Each of the affected patients was notified by a Jan. 10 letter sent by a UW Medical Center privacy officer.
No one has yet been arrested for the theft, Hagerty said.
One of the patients, Kathy Cranston, has since set up a "blog community" at Live Journal -- go to www.livejournal. com/userinfo.bml?user=uwm cidprotect06 for information -- so that affected patients can share information regarding possible cases of identity theft or fraud.
Cranston said she has not yet heard of any such incidents.
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