Googler employee info hacked
Want your privacy protected? Better work for Google. Employees hired before December 31, 2005, recently learned that their personal data, including Social Security numbers and birthdates, had been compromised by a break-in at Colt, an HR outsourcing firm:
We all got a letter saying that a break-in occured on May 26 and Google was notified on June 9. Here's the fun part: "We've been informed by Colt that specific personal information for employees and dependents included names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses, hire dates, and relationships." Employees are getting a free year of identity-theft protection.
How kindly of Mother Google! No such protection was provided to the North Carolina students whose personal data was made available by the search engine in 2006.