ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Police in Newfoundland are investigating the theft of a school board laptop computer that contains the personal information of nearly 30,000 students.
The Eastern School District said in a statement Thursday that four laptops were stolen Sunday from an office in St. John's.
One of the laptops contained an electronic database of bussing information for about 28,000 students.
The school board said the information includes names, grade levels, health card numbers, addresses, phone numbers and the names of parents and guardians.
The board said the computers were password protected and therefore limit access to the personal information.
“We are very concerned about this theft and possible breach of private information,” said Eastern School District CEO Darrin Pike.
“We have notified all authorities and school administrators and have also taken action with our landlord ... to strengthen our physical security measures.”
Earlier this month, Memorial University warned students of a possible private information leak after a laptop belonging to a business professor was stolen.
The professor said he occasionally used his personal laptop for university-related purposes and that it may have contained class lists, names, student numbers and grades.
