The problem with electronic data, of course, is that, well, it’s electronic data. And, as THE Journal reports, a few school districts have found out recently how easily electronic data can be breached.
In Prince William County, Va., a thief stole a bag from a middle school that contained a thumb drive. And information on the drive included backup data about students, including names, ID numbers, parents’ names, and bus number or walker status. The Roanoke, Va., school district sold several computers containing the personal information of more than 2,000 employees. And in Quincy, Mass., the district there learned that private information had been posted on a public website as part of a PowerPoint presentation.
Paper records can end up in the wrong hands, too, and I’m not about to write off all the benefits of data for the sake of a few safety mishaps. I just thought, in the context of my last blog post, that maybe this was an indication of just how great the need is for personnel to monitor the use and location of sensitive technology.