Again, Why Is My Info On Somebody’s Laptop?

August 5th, 2008

Bruce Schneier reports about another stolen laptop containing the information of 33,000 people enrolled in the Clear program. For those unfamiliar, the “Clear Program” is simply a $100 fee to avoid airport security.

Schneier is correct that nothing at the airport is actual security, but there’s a deeper question:

WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYBODY’S INFO LYING AROUND ON LAPTOPS?

There’s simply no need whatsoever for any of my information to be on anybody’s laptop. There’s no reason that law enforcement, government, retail executives, TSA, or any other employees need to take my information home with them at night. It doesn’t need to be on a laptop at all.

What if they need to access it at home you say? That’s what VPN is for. My work computer is over 3,000 miles away from me and I still log in daily to access files - files that never leave my office. It’s not an issue.

I usually hate any type of common sense legislation, but I think it’s time we make a new law prohibiting credit card and social security numbers from being stored on portable devices. Not a day goes by where I don’t read about a laptop being stolen containing credit card numbers, social security numbers, or other personal information.

It’s ridiculous how often these laptops full of data are stolen and it’s not hard to avoid: Don’t store it on laptops, thumb drives, portable hard drives, cell phones, or ipods. There’s no reason to.

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