Computer Science

December 15, 2005

On December 8, 2005, the campus received an e-mail notifying us of a file containing confidential information which could be found if conducting a search on Google. Upon receiving the e-mail, the campus contacted Professor Hitchner, Computer Science Department, who removed the file immediately. Google and Microsoft (MSN) were also contacted to ensure that the data would be erased from their system.

Professor Hitchner had utilized student data from the year 2001 to populate a file for a class project. This file contained the names and social security numbers of 196students who were on the Computer Science 101 class lists during Winter Quarter 2001. It was Professor Hitchner’s intention to replace the real IDs with random numbers. Unfortunately, a mistake was made and the file was accidentally posted without the replacement.

We are sending you this information consistent with California Civil Code 1798.29, commonly referred to as SB 1386. 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
• • http://privacy.ca.gov/cover/identitytheft.htm
  • http://privacy.ca.gov/cover/consumerinfo.htm

The Computer Science Department, College of Engineering, and Cal Poly take security of personal data seriously. Steps have been taken to strengthen the security of this information which includes the removal of the social security number from the class list report data base. We regret any inconvenience this situation may cause you.

Should you have any questions about this event you may contact Mei-Ling Liu, Interim Department Chair, Computer Science Department at 805-756-2824 or mliu@calpoly.edu, or Vicki Stover, Campus Information Security Officer at 805-756-2171 or vstover@calpoly.edu.

Sincerely,

Mei-Ling Liu, Interim Department Chair, Computer Science Department