Donor data stolen from Red Cross

DALLAS (AP) _ A laptop containing personal information from thousands of blood donors in Oklahoma and Texas has been stolen from a Dallas-area office of the American Red Cross. <br/><br/>The data included

Saturday, July 1st 2006, 5:50 pm

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ A laptop containing personal information from thousands of blood donors in Oklahoma and Texas has been stolen from a Dallas-area office of the American Red Cross.

The data included Social Security numbers and medical histories, but Red Cross officials note that the information was encrypted.

Therefore, a spokesman for the organization told The Dallas Morning News that they were not yet viewing it as a security breach.

The laptop was one of three stolen from a locked closet in the Farmers Branch office of the American Red Cross in May, but the two others did not contain the personal information.

A Red Cross spokeswoman says that local officials alerted the police and the national office after the disappearances.

However, donors were not notified about the missing information, which officials said involves all regional Red Cross blood donors over recent years.