Physics 2
July 14, 2006
Dear Cal Poly Student:
I am writing to inform you of a situation that could affect you. On July 5, 2006, Professor John Mottmann, Physics Department, reported that his home had been broken into on July 3, 2006 and a laptop computer was stolen. He indicated that there were class lists which had names and social security numbers of 3,020 students from his Physics and Astronomy lecture courses from Fall Quarter 1994 through Fall Quarter 2004 on the laptop computer. You were enrolled in one of his courses during this time period. This incident has been reported to the San Luis Obispo 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 800.525.6285 http://www.equifax.com/
- Experian 888.397.3742 http://www.experian.com/
- Trans Union 800.680.7289 http://www.transunion.com/
Oncs 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://caag.state.ca.us/idtheft/tips.htm
- The Federal Trade Commission – http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft
- California Office of Privacy Protection
The Physics Department, College of Science and Mathematics, 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 Pamela Parsons, Budget and Resource Analyst, College of Science and Mathematics, at 805-756-2226 or pparsons@calpoly.edu, or Vicki Stover, Campus Information Security Officer at 805-756-2171 or vstover@calpoly.edu.
Sincerely,
Philip S. Bailey, Dean, College of Science and Mathematics
