The January theft of a laptop in Japan netted thieves the personally identifiable information of as many as 4,000 clients of the Marine Corps Community Services New Parent Support Program.

What types of personal information? The laptop may contain names, ranks, Social Security numbers, birth dates, children’s names and mailing addresses of members of the U.S. Armed Forces, government employees and Status of Forces Agreement personnel on Okinawa and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.

The laptop does not contain driver’s license numbers or financial information.

What was the response? Marine Corps officials are working with J&E Associates, a third-party contractor, to notify affected personnel as soon as possible.

Details: There is no evidence the laptop has been misused.

Quote: “The Marine Corps takes very seriously its responsibility to safeguard the personal information of its service members, their families and government employees,” said First Lt. Garron Garn, Marine Corps Bases Japan spokesman. “Our information systems are password protected and our users are educated on ways to protect personally identifiable information.”

Source: U.S. Marines in Japan (press release), Feb. 1, 2008, “Personal data potentially compromised”