Animal Science
February 14, 2006
Dear Cal Poly Student:
I am writing to inform you of a situation that could affect you. On February 10th, Professor Debbie Beckett, Animal Sciences Department, reported that her car had been broken into the previous day in Atascadero. She indicated that grade books were missing which had names and social security numbers of nineteen students from her Winter 2006 ASCI 406 class. This incident has been reported to the Atascadero Police Department for investigation of the crime.
While there is no indication that your private information was accessed, we are sending you this information consistent with California Civil Code 1798.29, commonly referred to as SB 1386. We consider any breach of our computer security as a serious matter.
While we cannot advise you on how to proceed, one option you have is to contact one of the credit reporting agencies, each of which has an automated phone-in fraud alert process. To understand the effects of a fraud alert, please visit this Fact Sheet on Credit Freeze and Fraud Alerts.
Contact information for the credit agencies is listed below:
- Equifax 800.5256285 http://www.equifax.com/
- Experian 888.397.3742 http://www.experian.com/
- Trans Union 800.680.7289 http://www.transunion.com/
Once you receive your credit reports, review them for any suspicious activity. If you see any accounts you did not open or incorrect personal information, call the credit bureau(s) or your local law enforcement agency (e.g., city police department) to file a report of identity theft. The following resources can provide additional information about identity theft:
- California Attorney General's Office – http://oag.ca.gov/idtheft/facts/top-ten
- The Federal Trade Commission – http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft
- California Office of Privacy Protection
As indicated above, the Animal Science Department, College of Agriculture, and Cal Poly take security of personal data seriously. Steps are being taken to strengthen the security of this information. The University is in the process of implementing a new student system that will utilize for identification a number other than social security number. We regret any inconvenience this situation may cause you.
Should you have any questions about this event you may contact Professor Debbie Beckett at 805-756-2419 or dbeckett@calpoly.edu , or Vicki Stover, Campus Information Security Officer at 805-756-2171 or vstover@calpoly.edu .
Sincerely,
Dr. Andrew Thulin, Department Head, Animal Science
