Here We Go Again

Why do companies/organizations protect their office supplies better than they protect employee data? Just asking.

Starbucks Corp. on Friday said four laptops, two of which contained the names and Social Security numbers of about 60,000 U.S. employees, are missing from its corporate headquarters.

The information on the laptops is from 2003, Starbucks (Charts) said, and includes employees at all levels of the organization. A spokeswoman said about 8 percent of the company's current work force is affected by the issue.

In addition to the nearly 60,000 U.S. employees, the personal information of about 80 Canadian employees was also on the laptops, which were password protected.

The company said there is no indication the private information has been misused or that the laptops are in the hands of someone intending to misuse the information.

Starbucks is working to notify the employees whose information was believed to be on the missing laptops. It is also offering credit-protection services to those people.

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