THE personal details of various Scottish freelancers have been lost, following the theft of a computer laptop containing them.
Says a letter from Associated Newspapers – publishers of the Scottish Daily Mail – to a number of Scottish writers, one of the company’s laptop computers has been stolen. And with it, personal details including – at least for some – bank details.
Associated say the computer was password protected, but nevertheless advise contacting one’s bank, to alert them to the loss of data.
Plus, visit a government website which has information about identity theft.
The letter says: “We are writing to you as quickly as possibly to alert you to the fact that the theft has happened and to inform you of the data types lost, so that you can take appropriate action.”
And adds: “The likelihood is that this theft was carried out in an opportunistic manner by a thief who will not realise that there is any personal data on the computer and who may just erase what is on the hard disk in order to disguise the fact that the computer is stolen.”
The letter also points out that the police and the Office of the Information Commissioner have been informed and that Associated News have ‘strengthened their procedures’ “since this incident, which was inadvertently caused by a technical issue”.
