A University of Nevada, Reno professor has lost a flash drive that contained the names and Social Security numbers of 16,000 current and former students, a UNR spokeswoman said today.
The flash drive contained the information of incoming freshmen who enrolled in the fall semesters from 2001 through 2007, said Jane Tors of UNR's communications department.
That does not include freshmen who enrolled in the spring, transfer students or graduate students.
Tors said there has been no indication that the information has been accessed, but letters were sent to each of the students alerting them to the situation.
"We also are providing students with access to an identity protection service for one year at no cost," she said.
The portable computer storage device was lost Oct. 19 somewhere off the campus by an administrative faculty member who is not being identified, Tors said.
"It's considered a personnel matter," she said.
The flash drive, which is about the size of a thumb, was lost somewhere in downtown Reno.
University officials ask anyone who might have found it to call University Police Services at 784-4013.