Computer Stolen With Data on Thousands Involved in 9/11 Cleanup, Police Say
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A laptop computer containing the personal and medical information of thousands of civil servants that assisted in the clean-up efforts in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks has been stolen, police said yesterday.
About 11,000 civil servants -reportedly including as many as 1,000 police officers – are participating in a five-year study by the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program that is tracking the medical conditions of first responders, law enforcement officials said. The files on the missing laptop contained volunteers’ social security numbers, zip codes, dates of birth, and health data, according to a letter sent out to the participants and signed by the director of the data and coordination center, Steven Levin. He assured that no information from the mental health examination was in the database.
Mr. Levin wrote that the computer was “login-password protected and did not include any names.” He also said, however, that all health information was coded, “but someone with sophisticated computer abilities might be able to access this information.” As a precautionary measure, Mr. Levin advised participants to contact the three credit agencies to ensure that they were not the victims of identity theft.
A spokeswoman for the Mount Sinai Hospital-affiliated program, Leslie Schwartz, said the computer files do not contain any financial records.
The thief stole the computer from a hospital management office at Mount Sinai, located on 102nd Street, on July 10, police said.
A hospital videotape captured the image of a man making off with the laptop, police said. Police suspect the thief is Malcolm Mitchell, 27, a painter who was fired from his job as a subcontractor at the hospital a few days prior to the crime, the deputy commissioner of public information for the Police Department, Paul Browne, said. Mr. Mitchell was allowed access to the building, police said. The suspect has been arrested at least two times, Mr. Browne said. One of the charges was marijuana-related.
The Web site for the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program indicates that it screens participants for the following ailments: persistent or chronic sinusitis or rhinitis, reactive airways disease (asthma), laryngitis/tracheitis/bronchitis, gastro-esophageal reflux, and emotional distress. Volunteers were ensured confidentiality at the outset.
A Fire Department official, Sean Johnson, said the department knows about the problem, but that “it’s a Mount Sinai issue.” The Fire Department maintains its own medical records, which are in no way connected to the vulnerable database, he said.